Public domain Catholic and Bible paintings from the medieval art period.
Christ on the cross. Below the cross stand, at left, Saint Mary Magdalene and Mary. Saint Francis of Assisi kneels and embraces the cross. At right stand John and Saint Ignatius of Antioch. Two angels catch the blood of Christ in chalices, and at right is a banderole with text. Medium: Tempera on p
This small altarpiece, intended for a domestic interior or private chapel, consists of three panels, allowing it to be folded and easily transported. Surrounding the Virgin and Child in the center are various saints. On the left is Saint Andrew crucified, with St. Francis and St. Paul below; on the
Although Gherardo Starnina is regarded as one of the most important painters of his time in Florence, little is known about him. He probably studied with a well-regarded Florentine painter who made numerous frescoes. He is claimed to have participated in the painting of the frescoes in the Castellan
In medieval Italian churches, painted altarpieces served as the focal point for worshippers during the rituals of faith. The figures of Jesus, Mary, and eight saints are framed by a golden background that would have glistened in the flickering candlelight of the church. Medium: Tempera and gold on
This small but opulent panel painting was once joined to another panel with hinges to form a diptych. Given its small size, its original function was for private devotional use. It could be folded like a book when not in use and was highly portable. The missing panel has not been positively identifi
This small winged altarpiece, called a triptych, was undoubtedly made for private use. The donor and his wife are shown in the lower central scene kneeling before the Virgin, her mother Saint Anne, and the Christ Child. Above is the Epiphany with the Three Kings presenting gifts to a tightly swaddle
This cross was originally mounted on a tall pole and carried in religious processions. Therefore, the figures on each side are almost identical. In the center is Christ crucified. Looking on from the elaborate terminals at left and right are the Virgin and Saint John. The bottom terminal shows a dif
Medium: paint, gold and poplar wood. Dimensions: height: 25.8 cm (10.1 in); width: 20.3 cm (7.9 in).
In this depiction of the Annunciation, the angel's Gabriel wings resemble the feathers of a peacock.
About the Image: The brothers Jacob H. and Philipp Schiff were members of one of the old Jewish families in Frankfurt. Jacob H. Schiff was eighteen when he emigrated to America, where he became a very successful banker. He contributed most of his considerable fortune - some 100 million dollars - to...
About the Image: This imposing, cruelly exact image depicts the corpse of one of the two criminals crucified with Jesus. Executed in the workshop of Robert Campin in Tournai around 1430 – at about the same time as the Van Eyck brothers’ Ghent Altarpiece – it is all that remains of one...
About the Image: The religious artwork is known as the Coronation of the Virgin. This type of artwork typically depicts the Virgin Mary being crowned by Jesus Christ and sometimes surrounded by angels or other saints. The term "coronation" refers to the act of crowning, which in this...
Details: The illuminator is unknown, but his style seems to conform to that known as "Antwerp Mannerism." It emerged among a group of Antwerp painters during the first half of the 1500s. Bolstered by its rich trade and cultural contacts, the port city of Antwerp attracted hundreds of...
Details: An impressive eight-line initial represents a kneeling David praying before an altar amid stylized topiaries and set against a burnished gold ground. The text introduces Psalm 101: Domine exaudi orationem meam (Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my crying come unto thee). Facial types for the figures...
This is an image from the manuscript of a medieval French poem called "Roman de la Rose." The poem was written in the 13th century and is considered a masterpiece of medieval literature. Abelard and Héloïse were two individuals who lived in the 12th century and are known...
Details: This leaf was an opening page of a mariegola, or register, painted by Cristoforo Cortese, the most famous and prolific Venetian illuminator of the first half of the fifteenth century, for a German confraternity in Venice. The lay members of this confraternity are shown kneeling at the feet of...
Details: Andrei Rublev was born in the 1360s. He was a Muscovite icon painter and he was known as one of the greatest medieval icon painters. Rublev lived in Russia and decorated icons and frescos for many churches including the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Moscow Kremlin. He died...
Details: This miniature, together with another illuminated music-making angel (Robert Lehman Collection, 1975.1.2465b), is a fragment of the decorative border of a manuscript folio. The leaf may have belonged to an antiphonary—a choir book containing sung portions of the Divine Office—that was commissioned in 1401...
Details: Pentecost is a Christian holiday that takes place on the 50th day after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the...
Details: Guillaume Vrelant, born in Utrecht, was known to be in Bruges from 1454 onward where he died around 1481. He probably went there to sidestep a 1427 law which banned the sale of Utrecht images. A painter very much in vogue, he founded the Illuminators’ Guild in Bruges under...
Details: According to the Bible's New Testament, the Apostles are the primary disciples of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure in Christianity. During the life and ministry of Jesus in the first century AD, the apostles were his closest followers and became the primary teachers of the gospel...
Details: This hypnotic panel, painted front and back and with its original frame, shows two angels holding the cloth on which Christ's head was miraculously imprinted (Veronica's veil). The inscription on Christ's collar suggests that it may have been used during the Mass as...
Details: This type of icon is known as the Virgin Eleousa (Virgin of Tenderness) characterized by the touching cheeks of mother and child in a loving moment. The icon signifies Christ’s incarnation, suffering, and death for the sake of humankind. Three ornamental stars on the Virgin’s cloak are...
Leaf from an Antiphonary Coronation of the Virgin Cleveland Museum of Art0:00/ 0:291×Details: The unidentified illuminator of this leaf is named after his work on a painted triptych that once hung behind the altar of the Church of Santa Maria del Ponte in the small village of...
