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Details: Mughal rulers borrowed from Christianity to produce art, with images of Madonna and Christ being painted on palace walls[1][2]. Christian themes went viral in traditional Indian art starting in the 16th century[3], and Christian influence on Mughal Art was discussed in a presentation at Asia House[...
Details: The biblical King David strums his harp, performing the music of heaven in concert with five angels. Ornate fictive architecture frames this celestial tableau. Despite its small size, Rubens's painting displays a striking monumentality: this is due to its status as a modello (preparatory study) for a...
Details: David was a skilled musician and was known for playing the harp. According to the Bible, he was brought before King Saul to play the harp and soothe the king's troubled spirit. In 1 Samuel 16:23, it states "And so it was, whenever the spirit...
Details: St. Nicholas, the 4th-century bishop of Myra (in present-day Turkey), was one of the most venerated saints in Russia. Considered almost a "national" saint, he was second only to the Mother of God as a protector and intercessor with God. The small figures in the icon'...
Details: This complex composition served a Russian household's spiritual needs throughout the year by incorporating the whole church calendar in the form of images corresponding to the major feast days. Depicted, starting at the bottom left, are the Birth of the Virgin (September 8), Presentation of the Virgin...
Details: The Magi and the Shepherds are two separate groups of people mentioned in the Bible in relation to Jesus' birth. The Magi, also known as the Wise Men, were wealthy foreigners who followed a star to find Jesus[1][2]. The Shepherds were local shepherds who were visited...
Details: The decoration on this page is by two or possibly three different hands. The headpiece, ornamented title, and initial letter "E" are the work of the scribe Luke the Cypriot, while the images and framing ornament in the side margin are by a professional artist(s). It...
Details: Our Lady of Fatima is a Catholic title for Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions in Fátima, Portugal in 1917[1]. Three shepherd children saw the apparitions: Lucia dos Santos (aged 9) and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto[4][3]. During the six apparitions, Our...
Details: Bronze icons were a popular, inexpensive substitute for those made out of more precious metals. The Virgin is shown as an intercessor with her hands raised in prayer, turning toward Christ in the upper right corner. This portrait type of the Virgin "Hagiosoritissa" comes from an icon...
Details: Elaborately decorated crosses were widely used in religious, military, and imperial processions during the Middle Byzantine era. Often, as here, inscriptions in Greek identify the holy figures depicted in portrait busts. On the front of this cross, the central medallion contains a bust of Christ. The archangels Michael and...
Details: St. Andrew Catholic Church was built in 1920 for a congregation that had existed since 1875, was designed by Samuel Hannaford and Sons. It stood at the corner of Blair Avenue and Reading Road for 99 years, until it was unceremoniously demolished in February and March of 2019. The...
Details: The Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist is the only Ukrainian Catholic parish located within the city limits of Ottawa. This historic church has a rich history dating back to 1914 when it was first established. In 1918, the parish community made the significant move of purchasing...
Details: Cherubino Alberti (1553–1615) was an Italian engraver and painter. He is most often remembered for the Roman frescoes completed with his brother Giovanni Alberti during the papacy of Pope Clement VIII[1][3][4]. He studied in Rome under Cornelius Cort and worked as an engraver, modeling his...
Details: The term "visitation" in the Bible typically refers to the visit of the Virgin Mary to her relative Elizabeth, as described in Luke 1:39-56[1]. It can also refer to God's judgment or punishment, as seen in Isaiah 10:3[2], or a call...
Details: The painting "Christ in the Desert Served by Angels" (1581-1642) by Frans Francken II does not exist. While there are several paintings by Frans Francken II that depict Christ in the desert, none of them feature angels serving him. The closest painting to this description is "...
Details: The assumption of Mary (Doxaras) is a painting created by Greek painter Nikolaos Doxaras[1]. The painting depicts the death of the Virgin Mary and is one of the most popular themes in Greek and Italian art from the inception of the Christianity[1]. Nikolaos Doxaras (1706/10 – 2...
Details: According to the Bible, David played the harp for King Saul when an "evil spirit from the Lord" was upon him[1][2][3][4][5]. The music was thought to have a therapeutic effect and would help Saul relax and feel better, causing the evil spirit...
Details: This is a late example, very conservative in painting style, of a type of image that was first developed in Russia in the late 16th century. It is primarily based on the Old Testament story in which God revealed himself to Moses in a bush that burned without being...
Details: This icon repeats a copy, ordered in 1647 and brought to Moscow the following year, of a much older, miracle-working image from the Georgian Monastery of Iveron, on Mount Athos, Greece (hence the name "Iverskaya", i.e. "of Iveron"). This copy was subsequently installed in...
Details: This large Ethiopian Gospel Book was made in the first half of the sixteenth century and is written in Ge'ez, the traditional liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Containing eleven full-page miniatures, six canon tables, and five elaborately ornamented harags, or headpieces, this manuscript represents the...
Details: This is one of twenty-six known manuscripts by the hand of Luke the Cypriot (active 1583-1625), an accomplished Greek calligrapher who worked after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (1453). He copied it in 1594 at his episcopal see of Buzau (in Wallachia, now Romania) and soon took it to...
Details: The term pot-metal refers to glass that received its color in the melting pot when various metallic oxides were added. It was then possible to paint the surface of the glass in order to outline, decorate, and define details such as eyes and hair--as may be observed on this...
Details: John the Baptist is portrayed with the disheveled locks and beard of a desert hermit, wearing the camel's hair clothing and leather belt described in the Gospels. His cross-shaped staff alludes to Christ's future death. The Greek inscription on the cameo identifies John as the...
Details: Intended for the private contemplation and devotion of its owner, this palm-size ivory diptych illustrates both the reward of salvation and the consequence of damnation. The left wing represents the Coronation of the Virgin. At the bottom a retinue of the saved souls, including a mendicant friar, a king,...
