Catholic paintings from the Baroque period.
Vouet worked in Rome for several years before he was summoned back to France in 1627 to serve as court painter to King Louis XIII. This painting, executed soon after his return, reveals how skillfully Vouet adapted his Italian experiences to local tastes: the focus on a single monumental figure,...
Salome’s dancing so pleased her stepfather Herod that he offered her anything she wanted. Her mother advised Salome to demand John the Baptist’s head, which Salome presented to her family in an elaborate dish. Here, the head stands on its own, with a startlingly tangible presence. Despite its...
Augustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian, philosopher, and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo] Saint Monica was an early African Christian saint and the mother of St. Augustine of Hippo. She is...
Saint Roch, born of noble French parents in the late 1200s, was the patron saint of the plague-stricken. Before he was twenty years of age, he disposed of his riches and henceforth devoted himself to nursing the sick. Saint Roch is frequently depicted with cockleshell, wallet, and staff in the...
Saint Jerome (about ad 347–420) translated biblical texts into Latin. Although he sometimes appears as a scholar in his study, Ribera represents him here as a penitent who withdrew to the desert, beating his chest with a stone to emulate Christ’s suffering and contemplating a skull symbolizing human...
During Jesus’s arrest on the night of the Last Supper, the apostle Peter denied knowing him. Although Christ forgave his betrayal, Peter was consumed by guilt. La Tour represents Peter as an old man, reflecting on his past actions in a state of perpetual repentance. The apostle’s red-rimmed...
DID YOU KNOW? The crown worn by God in this painting resembles a papal tiara, last used by a Catholic pope in 1964. DESCRIPTION This vividly colored altarpiece was made in Antwerp, the center of religious learning in Catholic Flanders. In the mid-1500s when the Catholic Church mounted a defense...
Grasping a gold plate holding John the Baptist’s severed head, young Salome presents this gruesome prize to her mother. Salome’s stepfather, King Herod, had granted her a wish after she danced for him at a banquet. Prompted by her mother, she asked for John’s head. John had...
Saint Ambrose, who lived in the 4th 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...
After training in Rome in the 1630s and 1640s, Preti went to Naples where he continued working in a mode inspired by the work of Caravaggio. In this painting, dramatic lighting and intense naturalism depict the intersection of the heavenly and earthly realms. According to Catholic tradition, Saint Paul the...
The Immaculate Conception refers to the Catholic doctrine that the Virgin Mary, mother of Christ, was herself born without sin. Following traditional iconography, Castiglione depicted her as Queen of Heaven, accompanied by angels and standing on a crescent moon, a symbol of chastity. The doctrine, much debated, was supported by...
In this large canvas, Guido Reni, a leading seventeenth-century Bolognese painter, depicted one of the New Testament’s more macabre stories. Salome, the daughter of Queen Herodias, so pleased her stepfather, Herod Antipas, by dancing at his birthday feast that he promised to grant her any wish. Prompted by her...
Although Saint Andrew is typically associated with an X-shaped cross, here he is depicted on a standard vertical cross. Saint Andrew’s efforts to introduce Christianity to Greece in the first century AD were met with hostility from local authorities. He was sentenced to die on the cross because he...
Better known for grand, monumental compositions and illusionistic decorations, here Lanfranco painted on a smaller scale, successfully portraying an intimate moment between the Madonna, her son, and her nephew. While the Madonna tenderly caresses her son, the two children extend their arms toward each other, expressing both familial and divine...
The Archbishop of Cambrai, Charles de Saint-Albin, was the illegitimate son of Philippe, duc d'Orléans, and a dancer at the opera. Although his father never recognized him officially, he smoothed his son's swift advance in the Church hierarchy and aided his appointment to the archbishopric of...
Transforming the theme of the temptation of Saint Anthony into a celebration of nature's magnificence, Flemish landscape and still life painter Roelandt Savery depicted the hermit Anthony reading a Bible--oblivious to the antics of numerous fantastic demons--while seated in a rustic cell. His wooden hut is nestled in...
Near death after being tied to a tree and shot through with arrows, Saint Sebastian barely notices the angel helping to remove them. Anthony van Dyck painted the subject of Saint Sebastian many times, choosing various moments in the saint's story but never focusing on the one thing...
Arms outstretched, Saint Francis of Paola levitates while surrounded by a divine light. The crowd surges towards the saint, whose expression conveys his communion with God at the apex of the composition. Famed for his miraculous healing powers, Saint Francis of Paola was invited to France by the sickly King...
Carlo Dolci painted this as part of a series depicting the Four Evangelists. Matthew is depicted transcribing the opening words of his Gospel, which are accurately reproduced in Hebrew, the saint's native language. With characteristically detailed brushwork, Dolci meticulously describes the textures of the saint's wispy...
This painting depicts the heavenly vision of Saint Francis of Paola (1416–1507), founder of the Order of Minims, a religious order committed to perpetual abstinence and acts of humility. The saint experiences a vision in which the word “Charitas” (meaning Charity) appears in an aureole of golden light, accompanied...
Inspired by a series of apostles that Rubens painted in 1610 for the Duke of Lerma, Spain's chief minister, Anthony van Dyck set about making his own similar series, including this painting of the Apostle Simon. Simon is shown bust-length, his head turned so that his profile is...
In this painting, El Greco combines the iconic power of the crucifix with the expressive power of landscape painting. He sets the cross atop Golgotha, the "place of the skull," with Jerusalem looming in the background. He eliminates the other characters from the biblical narrative, encouraging the viewer...
As the innkeeper looks on, the resurrected Christ reveals himself to his apostles Cleophas and Saint Peter, as described in the Gospel of Luke: "When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened,...
The Old Testament tells of the shepherd boy, David, who felled a seemingly invincible adversary, Goliath, by slinging a stone that struck the giant on the forehead. The Biblical hero then used Goliath's own sword to cut off his head. Here, Cagnacci depicts David after the victory, when...
