This site's editor-in-chief is a Catholic husband, father, and author. He loves sharing the Catholic faith through art and graphic design. Check out his prayer books and coloring books on Amazon.com
Prints of the Man of Sorrow were widely widespread in Northern Europe after the mid-15th century. This image, originally drawn by Martin Schongauer, portrays Christ naked above the waist, wearing the crown of thorns, and displaying the wounds of the Passion marking his hands and side. The Virgin Mary and...
Sebastian, a bodyguard for the Roman emperor Diocletian, was shot with arrows and was eventually drowned for his commitment to Christianity. While the arrow alludes to Saint Sebastian, the young man’s clothing dates to the late 1400s, indicating that this is a contemporary portrait, rather than an image of...
The Catholic Franciscan chapel of the "Condemnation and Imposition of the Cross", according to tradition, this was where Jesus took up his cross after being sentenced. It is based on the finding of large Roman pavement stones that may have been part of Pilate's judgment seat...
This coloring page, which is based on Martin Schongauer's series of the Passion of Christ, was his largest set of engravings, made around 1480, and extensively copied across Europe. It consists of twelve prints detailing the suffering of Christ in the last days of his life. Schongauer'...
The style of this painting suggests that it comes from Catalonia in northeastern Spain, though the identity of its artist remains unknown. The painting represents a youthful bishop-saint identifiable by a bishop’s symbols of authority, his miter and crozier. He wears rich vestments. Below, the figure in black represents...
St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom) is the most important Catholic Church in Vienna. It has a multi-colored tile roof with a diamond pattern and two tall towers. It is the most recognizable symbol of the city. The church was dedicated to St. Stephen, who was also the patron of...
Enjoy the latest posts from the blog below. I've added dozens of images lately, so if you haven't checked out the home page [https://sdcason.com/] in a while, go over there and do so. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find! Remember, all...
Christian tradition says that Saint John the evangelist was banished by the Roman Emperor Domitian to the Greek island of Patmos at the end of his life. There, the visionary wrote the Apocalypse, or Book of Revelation. Martin Schongauer's engraving describes in detail one of the visions that...
Vouet worked in Rome for several years before he was summoned back to France in 1627 to serve as court painter to King Louis XIII. This painting, executed soon after his return, reveals how skillfully Vouet adapted his Italian experiences to local tastes: the focus on a single monumental figure,...
In the eastern part of Slovakia there are lots of typical small wooden churches, a mixture of polish, Slovak and Ukrainian culture. they can be Greek Catholic, Russian Orthodox and a few are Roman Catholic. This church is close to the Polish border. If you want to visit it you...
This coloring page, based on Martin Schongauer's series of the Passion of Christ, was his largest set of engravings, made around 1480, and extensively copied across Europe. It consists of twelve prints detailing the suffering of Christ in the last days of his life. Schongauer's version...
Saint Catherine (1347-1380) was the daughter of a prosperous Sienese cloth dyer. At the age of six, she saw a vision of Christ and thereafter dedicated herself to chastity, penance, and good works. She became much beloved in Siena for selflessly caring for victims of the Black Death. This panel,...
Vatican City, a city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy, is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. It's home to the Pope and a trove of iconic art and architecture. Its Vatican Museums house ancient Roman sculptures such as the famed “Laocoön and His Sons” as well as Renaissance...
Slender and weathered from preaching in the wilderness where he lived on locusts and wild honey, John the Baptist carries a bowl of water, symbolizing his role as the baptizer of Christ. In this print, Campagnola combined engraved lines with his innovative stipple technique, in which tiny dots softly shade...
Saint Catherine holds the sword with which she was martyred, and Saint Barbara holds both a book and a ring symbolizing her scholarly pursuits and union with God. According to legend, the leather thongs with which she was beaten were transformed into peacock plumes. These two paintings were originally the...
In Eastern and Western Christian liturgical practice, the elevation is a ritual raising of the consecrated elements of bread and wine during the celebration of the Eucharist. The term is applied especially to that by which, in the Roman Rite of Mass, the Host and the Chalice are each shown...
The blast of an angel's trumpet startles the old scholar. Jerome's own writings describe the sound as signaling the Last Judgment. This drawing, by Jusepe de Ribera, made full use of the Baroque repertoire to convey the saint's heightened state, evident in Jerome'...
Salome’s dancing so pleased her stepfather Herod that he offered her anything she wanted. Her mother advised Salome to demand John the Baptist’s head, which Salome presented to her family in an elaborate dish. Here, the head stands on its own, with a startlingly tangible presence. Despite its...
Solemn Mass (Latin: missa solemnis) is the full ceremonial form of the Tridentine Mass, celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon, requiring most of the parts of the Mass to be sung, and the use of incense. It is also called High Mass or Solemn High Mass....
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph. Veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first bishop of New France, who founded a Confraternity. The Feast of the Holy Family is a liturgical...
Saint Nicolas of Bari, patron saint of children, sailors, and travelers, and the prototype of Father Christmas, was bishop of Myra (Lycia) in Asia Minor during the AD 300s. His remains were said to have been taken to Bari in Italy during the 11th century. The saint is shown vested...
In the Catholic liturgy , the Tridentine Mass is that form of the Eucharistic celebration of the Roman rite promulgated by Pope Pius V in 1570 at the request of the Council of Trent , up to the revision ordered by the Second Vatican Council . It was maintained, with minor modifications, in...
It is nearly impossible to imagine the history of European art without the genius of Annibale Carracci. In the late 16th century, he emerged as one of the leading artists in Italy, breaking away from the mannerist style that had predominated the last fifty years of art making. His novel...
Augustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian, philosopher, and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo] Saint Monica was an early African Christian saint and the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. She is...
