Isabel Piczek

Isabel Piczek (November 14, 1927 – September 29, 2016) was a Hungarian born ecclesiastical artist and physicist, perhaps best known for her study of the Shroud of Turin, and who lived in Los Angeles. Her sister, Edith Piczec, was also a noted religious artist.

Piczek, and her sister Edith, were born in Hungary, where her father was a noted artist and art professor, and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. After World War II, the sisters fled to Rome during the Communist dictatorship in Hungary to pursue their work in sacred art. There, whilst still only teenagers, they won a 1949 competition to paint a mural at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute.

By 1955 they were in Canada and shortly after arrived in Los Angeles to pursue their combined talents. In Las Vegas, Edith designed the 2,000 square-foot mosaic on the façade of the cathedral that illustrated the roles of the Guardian Angel.^[1]

In 1992, Piczek was honored by Pope John Paul II in recognition of her prolific artistic achievements, examples of which can be found in nearly 500 different cathedrals, churches and other buildings across the world.^[2] Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, conferred on Piczek admission into the Order of St. Gregory the Great, and the title Dame of Saint Gregory, whereby she became one of only 70 Knights and Dames throughout the world to hold this honor.^[3]

External links

• Obituary via Orange County Register

References