About the Image: Pope Benedict XIV was the pope from 1740 to 1758. He was born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini in Bologna, Italy, in 16751. Benedict XIV was known for his efforts to reform the church and his support for the arts and sciences1. During his papacy, he issued several important...
About the Image: The Madonna and Child with Saints Joseph, Zacharias and Elisabeth and the Infant Saint John is a painting by Pompeo Batoni, created between 1738 and 17401. The painting depicts the Madonna holding the infant Jesus, with Saints Joseph, Zacharias, and Elisabeth, and the infant Saint John the...
About the Image: The Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist is a painting by Pompeo Batoni, an Italian painter of the 18th century[2][3]. The painting depicts the Madonna holding the infant Jesus, with the infant Saint John the Baptist standing beside them[1]. The...
About the Image: The Gabrielli Madonna is a painting by Pompeo Batoni, created in 1732 in the Gabrielli chapel of the Church of San Gregorio Magno al Celio in Rome[1][3]. The painting depicts the Madonna on a throne with child and four saints and blesseds of the Gabrielli...
About the Image: Susanna and the Elders is a painting by Pompeo Batoni, created in 1751 in Rococo style[3]. The painting depicts the biblical story of Susanna, who was spied on by two elders while bathing and falsely accused of adultery[1]. The painting is considered a testament to...
About the Image: By mid-eighteenth century Pompeo Batoni prevailed as the leading portraitist in Rome catering to an elite clientele of wealthy tourists from the British Isles. Decades earlier, he had launched his career painting historical and biblical subjects, and he continued to depict such subjects in a dignified, classicizing...
About the Image: The Return of the Prodigal Son is a story from the Bible, appearing in the Gospel of St. Luke[3]. It tells the story of a son who asks his father for his inheritance and leaves the parental home, only to fritter away all his wealth. He...
About the Artist: Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1529) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, primarily known for his work in ceramics. He was the son of Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525), the brother of Girolamo della Robbia (1488-1566), and the grandnephew of Luca della Robbia (1399/1400-1482)[1]. Giovanni worked as an assistant...
About the Image: This is a typical example of the two-sided panels carried in fifteenth-century religious processions. Such objects were regularly handled and exposed to the elements. On one side, the theologian Thomas Aquinas and the mystic Catherine of Siena, who holds the heart that Christ gave to her, flank...
Details: Saint Sebastian is a marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, an Italian artist, executed in 1617 and 1618 1, 2. The sculpture features Saint Sebastian, a Christian martyr, pinned to a tree with his flesh filled with arrows 1. It is smaller than life-size, measuring 98 x 42 cm...
Details: DID YOU KNOW? All books of hours contain the same basic sections, the order of which can shift, and individual prayers can vary, sometimes significantly, from region to region. DESCRIPTION One section of a Book of Hours is the Prayers to the Virgin. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, this...
The fresco of Saint Albertus Magnus, a theologian and scientist known for his contributions to philosophy, theology, and natural sciences, was painted by Tommaso da Modena in 1352. The fresco can be found in the Church of San Nicolò in Treviso, Italy. 🙏🏽This image is in the public domain. Free...
Details: Our Lady of Lourdes is a title of the Virgin Mary venerated by the Roman Catholic Church[1]. The title is associated with the Marian apparitions that occurred in Lourdes, France in 1858 to Saint Bernadette Soubirous[1]. The image of Our Lady of Lourdes has been widely reproduced...
Details: Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture "Cristo Crocifisso" (The Crucified Christ) is a life-size bronze sculpture of the crucified Jesus[2]. It was cast in 1650 and held in Bernini's private collection for 25 years[2]. It is believed that Bernini cast three versions of...
Details: Saints Jerome and Mary Magdalen are two sculptures by the Italian artist Gianlorenzo Bernini. They sit in the Chigi Chapel of Siena Cathedral. The statues were commissioned as part of the chapel by the then–pope Alexander VII (Fabio Chigi). Work began on the sculptures in 1661 and they...
Details: The Deposition is a marble sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance master Michelangelo. It depicts four figures: the dead body of Jesus Christ, newly taken down from the Cross, Nicodemus (or possibly Joseph of Arimathea), Mary Magdalene, and the Virgin Mary. The sculpture is housed in the Museo dell&...
Details: Justice and peace, according to Catholic Social Teaching, are closely intertwined[1][2]. The pursuit of justice is essential for achieving peace, and love for all people demands that we promote peace in a world surrounded by violence and conflict[1]. All human beings possess an equal and inalienable...
Details: This ivory plaque probably once served as part of a decorative cover for a liturgical manuscript. Three holy women intent on anointing the body of Jesus approach his burial place, the Holy Sepulchre, seen here as a twostory cylindrical building. A man "robed in white," and endowed...
