The lifeless body of Jesus Christ, taken off the cross after his crucifixion, rests in his mother Mary’s lap. John the Evangelist holds his head. Mary Magdalene, with an ointment jar, looks at his feet—according to the Gospel of Saint John, she had once anointed Jesus’s feet...
In the biblical story of the Massacre of the Innocents, King Herod orders the killing of all boys two and younger in Bethlehem, Jesus’ birthplace. Three magi (wise men) from the East had arrived in Jerusalem seeking the newborn king of the Jews, whose star they had seen. Taking this...
(Subject) La Mort De Jésus-Christ Sur Le Calvaire: Jesus dying on the cross at Calvary (Gospels: e.g., Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19). The painter (Jean‑Hippolyte Flandrin): 19th‑century French painter, student of Ingres, noted for calm, classical religious scenes and portraits. Free DownloadThis image is...
This is a list of my favorite 12 orders of Catholic nuns and sisters in no particular order. This list includes their history, and images of their habits. What is a Catholic Nun or Sister? In the Roman Catholic tradition, there are many religious institutes of nuns and sisters (the...
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This icon depicts the Dormition of the Mother of God (her "falling asleep" or death). The central figure is Christ, who stands over Mary's body holding a small, swaddled child. This child might represent Mary’s pure soul, which Christ is receiving to carry into heaven....
Finally, in the Whirlwind of the mystical ecstasy, the true God is manifest. He is Jesus, the Divine Imagination, and the Forgiveness of Sins: the only God whom Blake recognized. He is in a cruciform position and his right foot is forward. He descends below the cloud-barriers which normally separate...
The Virgin Mary sits on a stone bench. A halo of light around her head cuts through the shadows of the space. She looks tired and pensive as she cradles the baby Jesus in her lap. Any new parents can recognize the exhaustion and the weight of responsibility. She rests...
Jacopo Tintoretto ran a busy workshop in Venice, specializing in dramatic, complex religious paintings, which he produced at incredible speed. This crowded composition, with its daring foreshortening and elongated figures, is consistent with Tintoretto’s style. However, the overall quality of the execution suggests the work is by studio assistants...
In the 1400s and 1500s, southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland were centers of innovation in stained glass. From the 1480s on, roundels were popular and often incorporated into larger glass windows. This and four other large roundels were likely made for the family chapel in a castle or palace. Their...
This small tapestry depicts the infant Jesus pressing grapes into a chalice. The imagery was widely understood at the time of its creation to reference the physical sacrifice Jesus would later make in his crucifixion. In the Christian ritual of the Eucharist, followers drink holy wine to remember Jesus’s...
Annibale made this brutal depiction of Christ crowned with thorns shortly after suffering a catastrophic mental breakdown, from which he never fully recovered. No longer able to cope with large-scale painting commissions, he devoted himself almost exclusively to drawings and prints. In this period, his works are affecting and intimate—...
Welcome to this week's newsletter! Enjoy our Weekly Picks: Archangels Ethiopian Icon (2025) by Angelo Cason Jr. - Public Domain Orthodox Icon Coloring Page Saint Veronica with the Sudarium (1475) by Germany; after Master E. S. - Public Domain Catholic Painting Balaam Prophesies That a Star Will Rise...
The book of Matthew relates the story of a miracle witnessed by three of Jesus’s disciples. They saw him “transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” Suddenly the prophets Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke with Jesus. Then,...
Mariotto was famous for painting crisp details and the kind of subtle color shifts seen in the angels’ feathered wings and draped robes. These small panels once crowned the upper corners of a large altarpiece made for a church on the outskirts of Florence, Italy (Santo Stefano in Pane). During...
Some of Domenico Tiepolo’s drawings series dealt with specifically identifiable subjects, including the baptism of Jesus Christ. Though the story of John baptizing Jesus appears in three of the New Testament gospels, the details of the accounts are scant, leaving artists great latitude in depicting this event. Domenico responded...
Shepherds have arrived in the stable in Bethlehem to see the newborn savior king, Jesus. Yet, Annibale has placed a massive wooden post in the foreground to emphasize the division between their earthly space and the miraculous space occupied by the radiant baby, his haloed parents and two angels. Though...
Ponsonelli presents a vision of the Virgin Mary floating on clouds, one foot placed firmly on the crescent moon, the other on a dragon (symbol of the devil). The iconography represents the Immaculate Madonna, referring to the Catholic doctrine that Mary was born without sin, like her son Jesus. Ponsonelli...
Saint Ambrose, who lived in the fourth century, was an important Christian scholar and bishop. Here he is depicted among his books in a forceful pose emphasized by his massive hands. On the table’s edge, a scourge, or whip—the knotted rope attached to a wooden rod—symbolizes Ambrose’...
The lifeless body of Jesus Christ, taken off the cross after his crucifixion, rests in his mother Mary’s lap. John the Evangelist holds his head. Mary Magdalene, with an ointment jar, looks at his feet—according to the Gospel of Saint John, she had once anointed Jesus’s feet...
According to legend, Veronica pitied Jesus as he carried his cross to Calvary and offered him her kerchief, or sudarium, which miraculously retained the imprint of Jesus' face after he wiped his brow. The cloth presumed to have been Veronica's-her name means vera icon, or true image-is...
Figuring Jesus would be worn down after 40 days and 40 nights of fasting, Satan tempts him three times (Matthew 4:1-11). Eagle-eyed viewers will find all three narrated here: Satan taunts Jesus to turn stones into bread to satisfy his hunger, plunge off a temple and be rescued by...
This plate from Israhel van Meckenem’s “Passion” series, illustrating Christ’s trials and triumph, incorporates three events. According to the Gospel of John, after Jesus’s arrest, he was first taken to the powerful politician Annas, for questioning. At left, the disciple Peter has been apprehended, but he raises...
This angel carries symbols of the Passion—the events associated with Jesus Christ’s suffering and death. The pitcher, basin, and cloth represent those used by Pontius Pilate to wash his hands of responsibility for Christ’s crucifixion.The painting belongs to a series of twelve angels carrying symbols of...
This painting illustrates a scene from the Christian Bible. A young maidservant accuses the apostle Peter, in the yellow cloak, of knowing Jesus. Fearing for his own safety, Peter denies the acquaintance. While working in Italy, the Dutch artist Gerrit van Honthorst earned the nickname Gerard of the Night for...
Jesus is seen dead on the cross while his mother, Mary, and his favorite disciple, the Evangelist Saint John, mourn below. This large-scale work embodies the characteristics of Romanesque sculpture in the medieval period, with its heavy stylized bodies, calligraphic depiction of hair, and linear, energetic approach to rendering the...
This scene depicting the Virgin Mary, her infant son Jesus Christ, and various saints and prophets also includes the kneeling figure of Louise de Bourbon (1495–1545), a member of the French royal family (Note the inscription LOYSE DE BOURBON on the hem of her dark habit). She was the...
Before rising from the dead, Jesus descended into limbo, on the edge of Hell, where the souls of virtuous people who died prior to the Crucifixion awaited the coming of the Messiah. Martin Schongauer presents Jesus Christ as a triumphant figure of divine light, carrying the banner of the Resurrection....
This painting is an altarpiece, a devotional image used in a Christian church, and many of the details are religious symbols. The walled garden, for instance, refers to the garden in the Bible’s Song of Songs and is associated with the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. The...
