The textile artist Fukumi Shimura (born 1924 in Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture) was taught by her mother and began working with pongee, a technique of weaving yarn colored with plant dyes. For her mastery of the craft she was designated a Preserver of Important Intangible Cultural Properties (a “Living National Treasure”) in 1990. According to the artist, this work was inspired by a spectacle she beheld at a church on a trip to Italy, where a mass was underway and people prayed by the light of innumerable candles. The candles are woven using the kasuri (splashed pattern) technique against a background of ai (indigo), with variations in the weft expressing the flickering of flames, and the design is modern and innovative while at the same time conveying the solemnity of prayer.