Catholic paintings from the Baroque period.
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! A kneeling woman begs Christ in the midst of his disciples to heal her daughter, who is possessed by the devil (Matthew 15:21-21; Mark 7:24-30). On the right there is a disciple with a...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! This image shows the Holy Family with Mary Magdalene. The Christ Child extends his arm to Mary Magdalene who kneels by the child. On the floor is a skull (which represents Christ’s victory over death)...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! Surrounded by a diverse array of onlookers, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius kneels and prepares to raise the holy cross. Barefoot and clad in drab robes, Heraclius has abandoned his fine clothing in order to pass through...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! Jerome (c. AD 347–420) studied Greek and Latin literature in Rome, but eventually pursued theology, perceiving his conduct as corrupt and sinful. Around AD 374, Jerome had a vision of the Last Judgment in which...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! Rembrandt portrays his 19-year-old son Titus as a Franciscan monk. The rules of the Order prescribe a life of poverty and humility, reflected in the sitter’s coarse cloak and air of quiet introspection. In 1660,...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! In retaliation for Samson’s single-handed decimation of their army, the Philistines bribed his lover Delilah to discover the source of his strength: his hair, uncut since birth. Samson’s hair was shorn as he lay...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! Joseph tells his dreams to his parents and his brothers. Standing by a bed of his mother Rachel, Joseph tells his dreams to his father Jacob who is sitting in front of the bed, left some...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! This scene takes place entirely in the celestial sphere, with a background of defined and golden clouds. Saint Joseph appears in profile, kneeling, and of advanced age, holding a hand to his chest and a flowery...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! A muscular young man with a strong profile, who looks fully destined to kill a giant and to reign as Israel's king, this David is no innocent boy with a slingshot. Carelessly cradling Goliath&...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! The Old Testament hero Samson rests his head on his hand in a pensive, even melancholic pose. Objects on the table recall two of his heroic deeds: he killed a lion with his bare hands, and...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! In the central panel the Glorification of the cross by the Saints, the prophets and the angels is shown. On the right, are the 4 the patriarchs including Moses, Abraham and King David. Jonas is sitting...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! The crestfallen Prophet Jeremiah rests his weary, old head on his hand. He laments Jerusalem going up in flames – in the background – whose destruction he had prophesied. Rembrandt heightened the sense of drama with powerful contrasts...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! Rubens painted this image of Judah Maccabee praying for the dead; the painting illustrates an episode from 2 Maccabees 12:39–48 in which Judah's troops find stolen idolatrous charms on the corpses of...
Please Subscribe or Donate [https://sdcason.com/donate] to Help Keep This Site Free! Saint Peter (died between AD 64 and 68), also known as Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Peter the Apostle, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, and one of the first leaders of the...
Rita of Cascia, born Margherita Lotti, (1381 – 22 May 1457) was an Italian widow and Augustinian nun venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. After Rita's husband died, she joined an Augustinian community of religious sisters, where she was known both for practicing mortification of the...
The woman with seven sons was a Jewish martyr described in 2 Maccabees 7 and other sources, who had seven sons that were arrested (along with her) by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who forced them to prove their respect to him by consuming pig meat. When they refused, he tortured and...
Rita of Cascia, born Margherita Lotti, (1381 – 22 May 1457) was an Italian widow and Augustinian nun venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. After Rita's husband died, she joined an Augustinian community of religious sisters, where she was known both for practicing mortification of the...
One of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs of Christian antiquity, Agatha (231-251 AD) was put to death during the Decian persecution (250–253) in Catania, Sicily, for her determined profession of faith. Her feast day is February 5th. According to the 13th-century Golden Legend, the 15-year-old virgin Agatha was...
While contemplating the crucifix, Mary Magdalene clasps her hands in prayer and devoutly kneels with her eyes raised towards the heavens. The agitated drapery of her gown and the white light streaming into her tear-filled eyes convey a deeply emotional and spiritual scene. A vision of angels appears in the...
Peter Paul Rubens depicted the moment after the Crucifixion and before the Resurrection when Christ is placed into the tomb. He is being supported by those closest to him in life: John the Evangelist, in a brilliant red robe, bears the weight of Christ; Mary Magdalene cries in the background;...
Against an architectural backdrop, Mary Magdalene becomes the first witness to Christ's Resurrection. Since he had not yet ascended to heaven, Jesus instructed her not to touch him (Noli me tangere in Latin) and asked her to go to his disciples with the message that he had risen...
Genesis (39:7–20) tells how Joseph, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, was bought by Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh's guard. Potiphar's wife (who is not named in the Bible) took a liking to the young man and made several failed attempts to seduce him....
In this painting, Nicolaes Maes almost exactly copied Albrecht Dürer's 1504 engraving of the Nativity. Maes simply widened the house to the left, provided new poses for the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, and added the four shepherds that give the painting its new subject. The harmony of...
