Catholic paintings from the Baroque period.
Giovanni Lanfranco conceived this painting as part of a series executed for the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura (Saint Paul Outside the Walls) in Rome. Lanfranco depicts the imposing figures as if seen from below, imbuing them with a sense of...
During his devotions in the wilderness, Saint Bruno, the founder of the Carthusian order, a monastic community committed to solitary meditation, experienced a vision. Gazing intensely up at the sky, the saint tentatively reaches out to touch the mystical illusion of angels appearing in the sky. To the left, two...
Made just eight years before Rembrandt's death, this painting depicts Saint Bartholomew holding a knife in his right hand, a reference to the fact that he was skinned alive when martyred. One of Rembrandt's neighbors may have posed as the model for the saint. By showing...
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called il Guercino or simply Guercino, meaning “The Squinter”, a nickname referring to a congenital eye condition from which he suffered. In 1621, Guercino was called to Rome from his hometown of Cento, Ferrara, to paint this portrait of Pope Gregory XV (1554–1623). Despite being a...
Holding the jawbone as his attribute, Samson looks upward, perhaps to God. The great strongman slew a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass (Judges 15:19). Overcome by thirst, he then drank from the rock at Lechi, a name that also means "jawbone" in Hebrew. Due...
In the classic biblical tale of faith, daring, and skill overcoming brute strength and superior odds (1 Samuel 17), the shepherd boy David slew the armored Philistine giant Goliath with just a stave, a slingshot, and a pouch containing a few pebbles from a local brook. After stunning Goliath with...
The use of light and shade, saturated colors, and bold gestures dramatically capture the drama of the Resurrection, so vividly recorded in the Bible. Famous as the teacher of Rembrandt, Pieter Lastman brought a direct, emotional conviction to religious themes in his native Amsterdam in the early 1600s. In The...
Saint Sebastian is more conventionally depicted bound to a tree or pillar and pierced by arrows, or having his wounds tended to by Irene. Having recovered from the attempted execution by arrows, Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered that he be beaten to death and disposed of in the sewer. The denial...
Le Sueur depicts Christ on the cross, still alive, alone in a rocky and mountainous landscape. Following an older tradition in art, he is represented attached to the cross with four nails. As he hangs dying, blood trickles from his feet and hands onto the cross and the rock of...
Large Roman ruins loom in the background, against which excited figures engage in a brutal murder. In the shadowy right foreground, Saint Stephen kneels in prayer; behind him a shirtless man takes aim with a large rock. All around, people scurry to pick up rocks to hurl at the defenseless...
Paolo de Matteis (also known as Paolo de' Matteis; 9 February 1662 – 26 January 1728) was an Italian painter. He was born in Piano Vetrale, a hamlet of Orria, in the current Province of Salerno, and died in Naples. He trained with Francesco di Maria in Naples, then with...
Peter van Liesebetten or Pieter van Lisebetten (1630 – 1678) was an engraver from the Southern Netherlands. Liesebetten was born in Antwerp and is known for engravings after old master paintings, most notably a selection of paintings for David Teniers the Younger for his Theatrum Pictorium. Free Downloads Below Hi-Res...
A free downloadable public domain Catholic painting.
A free downloadable public domain Catholic painting.
A free downloadable public domain Catholic painting.
A free downloadable public domain Catholic painting.
The painting depicts the martyrdom of St. Peter. According to ancient and well-known tradition, Peter, when he was condemned to death in Rome, requested to be crucified upside-down because he did not believe that a man is worthy to be killed in the same manner as Jesus Christ....
Saint Peter (r. AD 30; died between AD 64 and 68) also known as Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, Cephas, or Peter the Apostle, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, and one of the first leaders of the early Church.
The Woman of the Apocalypse (or Woman clothed in the Sun) is a figure described in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation (written c. AD 95). The Woman of the Apocalypse is widely identified as the Virgin Mary.
St. Michael is one of the principal angels; his name was the war-cry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against the enemy and his followers.
