Catholic paintings from the Baroque period.
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 rod.
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's huge, severed head with one arm and his oversize sword in the other, he gazes off into the future.
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 liberated the Israelites by slaughtering a thousand Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone.
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 as Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to May 1532.
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.
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 of light and dark.
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 Jewish warriors slain on the battlefield.
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 early Church. According to Christian tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero.
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-...
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...
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...
When Christ paused to rest at Jacob's Well, a holy site for both Samaritans and Jews, he requested a drink of water from a Samaritan woman. Though she was initially surprised, since Jews and Samaritans were traditionally enemies, she became increasingly intrigued by the knowledgeable and all-seeing...
The New Testament relates an occasion when, upon visiting the Temple of Jerusalem during Passover, Jesus found it filled with livestock and turned into a marketplace by merchants and money changers. Furious that the sacred place had been turned into a “den of thieves”, Christ fashioned a whip out of...
The turbulent emotions behind Peter's denial and later repentance have been the subject of major works of art for centuries. Examples include Caravaggio's Denial of Saint Peter, which is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The incidents have also inspired segments in various films related...
Bernardo Cavallino depicts an episode from the Bible in which King Saul, about to enter into battle with the Philistines, asked the Witch of Endor to summon the spirit of the recently deceased prophet Samuel, the last Judge of the Israelites. Silhouetted against a bright light emanating from a nearby...
After curing Tobit's blindness, returning the family's wealth, and making it possible for Tobit's son Tobias to marry his beloved Sarah, the Archangel Raphael has dropped his disguise and revealed himself as an angel, saying, "I was not acting on my own will,...
Bartholomeus Breenbergh set the story of God's first plague against the Egyptians in a luminous, spacious Italian countryside, filled with romantic classical ruins inspired by examples he had studied in Rome. In a vast vista of space, the highlighted ruins stand starkly against the sky in the central...
With its horizontal format, this biblical scene of classically proportioned figures arranged in graceful poses resembles an ancient Roman frieze. Facial expressions and dramatic gestures serve a narrative purpose, revealing the story for the viewer. Rubens used vivid reds, blues, and yellows to describe shimmering silks and heavy cloaks. On...
