In 1947, the monumental mosaic of the 'Crucified Christ with Mary and St John' was unveiled to mark the tenth anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Holy Trinity Parish Church in Bellach. In 1947, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the parish church of the Holy Trinity in Bellach, the monumental mosaic of the "Crucified Christ with Mary and St John" was unveiled. The author of this mosaic was Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden (1914-1980), a Polish artist active in France and previously an interned soldier in Switzerland. Although the choice of contractor was symbolic and involved considerable expense for the parish, his name was not recorded in the parish books. However, the name of the author and the story of the creation of the mosaic, reminiscent of post-war French productions in the trend for the renewal of sacred art, can be learned from newspaper articles from the 1940s and the memories of the inhabitants of Bellach.

The origins of the mosaic

The Roman Catholic Holy Trinity Church, located in the southern part of Bellach near the 17th-century Holy Trinity Chapel, was built between 1936 and 1938, after more than a century of efforts by local parishioners to gain a spacious location in the town. The building was based on a design by the well-known Basel architect Hermann Baur, adapted to local conditions by the Solura architect Walter Adam. The monumental single-nave building with a tower was completed in 1938.

Initially, the church was devoid of decoration, which was met with criticism. In response, the parish decided to engage Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden, a Polish artist with ties to the region, for the work. Thanks to his skills, an impressive mosaic was created which still adorns the interior of the church today, reminding us of the history and involvement of the local community.

Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden's links with Switzerland

Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden was born in Krakow, then part of the Austrian partition. He was the illegitimate son of Kazimierz Kaden, the owner of a manor house in Rabka-Zdrój. After Poland regained its independence, he studied at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts and at the Warsaw Institute of Art Propaganda. He then continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. During the Second World War, Fuss-Kaden joined the 2nd Infantry Rifle Division in France. In 1941, along with other Polish soldiers of the division, he was interned in Switzerland. Despite his stay in several internment camps, he did not abandon his artistic activities. He studied Architecture at the university camp in Winterthur and contributed to the magazine "Goniec Obozowy". During his internment he created many works in the Bellach region, including a Christmas painting and stained glass windows in the Polish chapel in Zuchwil, a guttergraph of Our Lady of Czestochowa, a copy of which can be admired in Enges, and a design for stained glass windows for the church in Solura. After the war he went to France, settled in Nice and there realised a project for the parish church of the Holy Trinity in Bellach.

Mosaic of the 'Crucified Christ with Mary and St John' in Bellach

The composition of the 'Crucified Christ with Mary and St John' was created in Tadeusz Fuss-Kaden's workshop in Nice, from where it was transported in parts to Bellach. Work on the mosaic took 18 months and involved contract negotiations, design, purchase of Venetian tesserae (small, square cubes of tinted glass), manual processing and laying of the material, followed by installation on site using concrete mortar. The mosaic weighed 125 kg and measured 3.3 x 2.4 m, making it time-consuming and physically demanding to work on.

The mosaic was placed in the choir space of the Holy Trinity Parish Church. Its intense colours contrast with the austere wall of local stone. The composition shows Christ in agony, with his head lowered, his wound highlighted and his arms outstretched in the shape of a cross, flanked by Mary in blue dress and John the Evangelist making a gesture of blessing. The black colour of Christ's body symbolises his renunciation and death. The composition is dominated by various shades of green, traditionally identified with hope. During the day, the mosaic shimmers with the play of more than a hundred tesserae colours, creating a spectacular visual effect.