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Details: Catholic angelology teaches that angels are pure spirits created by God to serve as his messengers and agents[1][2]. The Bible mentions three angels by name: Sts. Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, who are referred to as archangels[3][4]. Catholics believe that each person has a guardian angel...
Details: The Descent from the Cross is a scene from the Gospels in which Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take down Jesus' body from the cross[1]. It is also known as the Deposition of Christ, as it symbolizes Jesus being taken away from his position[2]. Peter Paul...
Details: Almighty God the Father is a painting by Antoine Coypel. The painting is a detail of the ceiling of the chapel of the Palace of Versailles, Yvelines, France[3][4][5]. It depicts God the Father in Glory surrounded by cherubs and angels[5]. The Chapel of the Palace...
Details: In the Christian tradition, Pentecost is the celebration of the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles, Mary, and the first followers of Jesus[1]. It is also known as the birthday of the Catholic Church[2] and celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the...
Details: King David was the second king of ancient Israel, reigning for 40 years between approximately 1000 BCE and 960 BCE[1][2][3]. He was not born into royalty, but rose to found a dynasty after being a humble shepherd[4]. He is known for his diverse skills as...
Details: This miniature bust houses the relics of an unknown bishop saint. The assumption that this was Saint Lambert and that the reliquary came from the treasury of the basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht cannot be proven. The small lion feet are later additions. 🙏🏽This image is in the...
Details: The Ethiopian hand cross, also known as an Abyssinian cross or Ethiopian-Eritrean cross, is a symbol of Christianity in Ethiopia and Eritrea[1]. It is typically squared with equal length crossbars[2] and often features intricate latticework[3]. Hand crosses are traditionally cut from a single piece of...
Details: One of four codicologically unrelated leaves from an antiphonary, a choral book containing the music used in the Divine Office. 1 column of 6 staves in Latin. Bounding lines blind or light plummet, doubled and full-length to upper and lower edges, writing lines blind or light plummet, with...
Details: The upper half of this panel shows a unicorn hunt reconfigured to represent the Annunciation. Only a virgin could lure a unicorn who is seen here grasping the horn of the mythical beast; not far behind are the hunter and hounds. The Virgin here is the Virgin Mary and...
Details: Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has its origins in the second century with St. Justin Martyr[1] and in the 7th century with Pope Gregory the Great[1]. It was further developed in the 11th century when pious Christians meditated on the Five Wounds of Christ[2]...
Details: The simple patterning of the drapery lends elegance to this figure of the Virgin, while her slightly slumped shoulders, forward tilt, and placid gaze might suggest both fatigue and acceptance of her new role as the mother of Jesus. Traces of the medieval painted decoration are preserved. The Virgin’...
Details: The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (Italian: Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica (Latin: Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal enclave that is within the city of...
Details: The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia is a Ukrainian Catholic cathedral located in the Poplar neighborhood[1]. It was established in 1886 and was designed by Julian K. Jastremsky in the Byzantine Revival style, modeled after St. Sophia (or Hagia Sophia now) in Istanbul (Constantinople)[2]. The...
Details: Catholic belief in the resurrection of the dead holds that all men, elect or reprobate, will rise again with their bodies and souls reunited[1][2]. This resurrection is made possible by Jesus' own glorified existence[3], and is promised to us through his hour of coming[4]...
Details: Christ on the cross has been depicted in art since the 4th century CE[1]. Early Byzantine depictions often show Christ flanked by Longinus and Stephaton with their spear and pole with vinegar[1]. In British art, George James Frampton created a stele of Christ on the cross with...
Details: Kenyon Cox painted this small, sketchlike image while studying in Paris. Although Cox trained with well-known French artists, his works were largely influenced by Greek, Roman, and Renaissance art. After Titian’s “Madonna of the Rabbit” is a copy of a painting in the Louvre by Italian Renaissance...
Details: Domenico Capriolo's Assumption of the Virgin is a painting located in the vestibule of the Annunciation chapel or Malchiostro in Treviso Cathedral[1]. It was commissioned in 1520[2] and is attributed to Domenico Capriolo[3][4][5]. The painting depicts the Virgin Mary being assumed into...
Details: The Christ Pantocrator in the Daphni Monastery is a mosaic dating back to 1080-1100[1], located in the main dome of the Church of Dormition in Daphni, Greece[2]. It was created by an anonymous 11th century Byzantine master mosaicist[3] and is thought to date from around...
Details: St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. Michael, constructed in 1923, is a brick church on a cruciform plan with three large onion-shaped domes rooted in the Byzantine tradition, located approximately six kilometres southeast of St. Michael in Lamont County, Alberta. It faces west towards the adjacent cemetery...
Details: Created between 1405 and 1408 or 1409, probably in Paris, the Belles Heures, or Beautiful Hours, a private devotional book, is one of the most sumptuous manuscripts to have come down to us from the Middle Ages. Commissioned by Jean de France, duc de Berry from the Limbourg brothers,...
Details: The legend of Saint Margaret, the Early Christian martyr also known as Marina, details the many painful ordeals she endured before her eventual death during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305). Having been swallowed by the devil in the guise of a dragon, the saint burst unharmed...
Details: The Eucharist is a sacrament of the Catholic Church in which bread and wine are blessed and consumed as a memorial sacrifice of Christ's body and blood[1][2][3]. It is also known as Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper[4]. The whole Christ...
Details: Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is a devotion in which the Holy Eucharist is placed in a monstrance or ciborium[1][2][4] and exposed for adoration[2]. During this time, hymns of praise are sung, such as "O Salutaris Hostia"[2], and prayers are...
Details: The Dream of Saint Joseph refers to four dreams described in the Gospel of Matthew in which Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, is visited by an angel[1][2]. In the first dream, he learns of Mary's miraculous pregnancy and is told not to be afraid[...
