Dona nobis pacem

Dona nobis pacem
John R. Hegnauer
Mottled green/black slate, gold leaf, 1997
“Cut by John R. Hegnauer, and presented to Welling & Erik Stocker on the occasion of their wedding on 25 October 1997 in Annapolis, MD.”
Gift of Erik Bradford Stocker in honor of Decherd Turner, 2002
BRA2109

This small slab by the noted New England stone carver was first shown at Bridwell in the company of other stone-carved texts in an exhibition curated by founding director Decherd Turner in 2002, Written On—Printed On. In addition to alphabets from the twentieth century, and a fragment of a hieroglyphic cartouche carved into red granite (Egypt, c. 3000–2500 BCE), a limestone cone incised in cuneiform (Sumer, c. 3000 BCE) was displayed. The cone, an item found in Bridwell’s A. V. Lane Collection, bears the terms of a peace treaty between the Sumerian Kings of Lagash and Uruk. Appropriately, John Hegnauer’s elegant Dona nobis pacem, preserves the liturgical entreaty to “Grant us peace.”