Free downloadable Catholic paintings which are in the public domain
This work belongs to a series depicting Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory, key figures of early Catholicism. Saint Ambrose (about AD 340–391), the bishop of Milan, resolved important theological conflicts within the church and worked effectively with advocates of Roman paganism. The low viewpoint and large scale suggest that...
Saint Romuald, born in 950, founded a strict order of monks who valued austerity and meditation. His white robe shows that his order was related to the better-known Benedictines, and his book and staff, made from reeds, speak to his wisdom and commitment to living simply. The fine details of...
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...
The woman is Mary Magdalene. She can be identified by her jar of ointment, which she used to anoint Jesus’s feet. Van Scorel painted her as a seductive, luxuriously dressed courtesan, a reference to her reputed past as a prostitute. Her clothing shows the influence of Italian painting, to...
This panel, along with The Baptism of Christ and Madonna and Child with Five Angels were once part of the same altarpiece devoted to Saint John the Baptist. Several more components have found their way to other collections. The altarpiece’s original location is not known, though it was probably...
Against a bright red background dotted with shimmering stars, the Three Kings pay homage to Christ. The artist depicted Christ as a lively child sitting on his mother's lap, with Joseph sitting behind them. The child dips his hands into the gold coins offered to him, symbolizing his...
This small panel depicts an episode from the life of the Dominican tertiary and mystic, Saint Catherine of Siena, as described in her biography of 1385, written by her confessor, Raymond of Capua. Receiving the sacrament of Communion gave Saint Catherine visions and ecstasies that lasted hours and left her...
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...
When this painting was made in 1333, according to the date given on the lower frame, the style was a bit old-fashioned. Saint Paul’s frontal stance, the intensity and fervor of his direct gaze, the inclusion of his name in red-backed gold letters on either side of his head,...
Savoldo depicts Mary Magdalene in the Garden of Gethsemane peering from behind shimmering folds of satin fabric, tentatively looking outward at the viewer. She is identifiable by her ointment jar on the left, containing the oil with which she anointed Christ’s feet. She stands by the sepulchre, preparing to...
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...
This small, rich panel was originally the left side of a diptych, which, along with a right-hand panel depicting the Virgin Mary (now in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg), depicts one image of the Annunciation—the moment when the archangel Gabriel brings Mary the news that she will give birth...
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...
Bronzino depicts Saint John the Baptist's muscular figure in a restricted space, his torso twisted to accommodate the panel’s vertical format which creates a series of strong diagonal accents, zigzagging the length of the painting. This artificial, serpentine pose marks Bronzino’s move away from naturalism toward...
This work was the left side of a diptych that probably depicted the Crucifixion on the opposite panel. At the lower left, looking up at a looming vision of the Virgin and Child, is a small, kneeling figure in rapt devotion. Lippo Memmi (Sienese, active 1317/1347) has given us...
This Coronation of the Virgin may be the first time the subject, which originated in the West, appears in Venetian art. Some of the earliest representations were carved above cathedral doorways in France—and certain elements in the Gallery's painting—its elaborate halos, for example—share in the...
