Free downloadable Catholic paintings which are in the public domain
The painting's subject comes from the Old Testament: the first book of Samuel, which describes the turning point in David's relationship with King Saul. The priest Ahimelech gives the sword of Goliath to the young David, who won it in battle. When King Saul learned that...
Saint James Minor is one of the more elusive of Jesus’s disciples. He is usually identified—as in the inscription running along the arch here—as the son of Alphaeus, and by his attribute, a fuller's club. James was said to have been the first bishop of...
The Madonna of Humility, an extremely popular subject in Flanders, sits on the ground on a cushion, presenting the haloed Christ Child in her arms. A crescent visible below her skirts at the left symbolizes the moon on which the Virgin stands in representations of the Immaculate Conception. The open...
Saint John the Evangelist, most beloved of Jesus’s disciples, holds his head in sadness. According to John’s Gospel, he was present at Christ’s crucifixion, and this panel, along with one depicting the Virgin Mary also in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, was originally part...
The Virgin Mary bows her head and rests her cheek on her hand in a universally recognized gesture of grief. This panel and one depicting Saint John the Evangelist were originally part of a large, painted crucifix (see Reconstruction). The two mourners would have appeared at the ends of the...
From the safety of the cave where they have taken refuge, Lot’s daughters appear absorbed by an event taking place beyond the painting’s borders—God’s annihilation of the city of Sodom, burning in the distance. Believing that they alone survive to perpetuate the human race, the daughters...
Margaritone d'Arezzo (Italian, active second and third quarter 13th century) was the first artist from Arezzo whose name we know and whose work survives. He was active during the middle decades of the 13th century. About 300 years later, Giorgio Vasari (Florentine, 1511 - 1574), who published biographies...
Light illuminates the neck and shoulders of a woman looking down at the figure of Christ kneeling on the ground. The Pharisees had brought to Christ a woman caught in the act of committing adultery. When they asked whether she should be stoned, he stooped down and began to write...
The son of Fra Filippo Lippi, Filippino began his training as a very young boy in his father's workshop. Documents record a partial payment he received in 1469 for the frescoes in the apse of the duomo in Spoleto, whose execution, interrupted by Fra Filippo's death...
The painter, Ann Agnes Trail or Agnes Xavier Trail (17 February 1798 – 3 December 1872) was a British Roman Catholic nun and artist. She took a leading role in establishing St Margaret's Convent in Edinburgh. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Agnes_Trail Carlo Odescalchi, (5 March...
The special mixture of reality, fantasy, and virtuosity that is particular to early Netherlandish painting is nowhere more apparent than in this exquisite panel. In an episode from the popular legend, Saint George in black Gothic armor pins the dragon to the ground with his lance; at the left kneels...
Madeira is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal, the other being the Azores. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in a region known as Macaronesia, just under 400 kilometres (250 mi) to the north of the Canary Islands and 520 kilometres (320 mi) west...
Jean François de Troy (27 January 1679, Paris – 26 January 1752, Rome) was a French Rococo easel and fresco painter, draughtsman and tapestry designer. One of France's leading history painters in his time, he was equally successful with his decorative paintings, genre scenes and portraits. He was the...
This painting and the Enthroned Madonna and Child are the oldest paintings on the National Gallery of Art’s walls. They may have been created by the same anonymous artist in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), then the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Panels such as these were highly influential in...
Adoration of the Christ Child (Italian: Adorazione del Bambino), is a circa 1619–1621 oil on canvas painting of the Nativity by the Dutch Golden Age artist Gerard Honthorst in the collection of the Uffizi in Florence. The Adoration of the Child shows a moonlit scene with Mary laying the...
Christ Triumphant over Sin and Death, also known as Christ Triumphant over Death and Sin, or sometimes as Salvator Mundi, is a circa 1618 oil painting by the Flemish Baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens. It is on display in the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Strasbourg, France. Its inventory number is...
The Corpse of Christ is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Annibale Carracci, dating to c. 1583-1585 and housed in the Staatsgalerie of Stuttgart, Germany. The work, dating to Carracci's early career, is a manifest homage to Andrea Mantegna's Dead Christ, which he had perhaps...
The Calling of Saint Matthew is a masterpiece by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, depicting the moment at which Jesus Christ inspires Matthew to follow him. It was completed in 1599–1600 for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of the French congregation, San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, where it...
Joseph the Carpenter is an oil painting by Georges de La Tour created circa 1642. The painting depicts a young Jesus with Saint Joseph, his earthly father. Joseph drills a piece of wood with an auger. The shape of the auger reflects the shape of the Cross and the geometry...
The composition of this Virgin and Child is loosely based on the Hodegetria, one of the more powerful and enduring icon types of the Orthodox Christian church. The Virgin gestures toward the child to show him as the “way” (hodos in Greek), the source of salvation. The throne and her...
The Virgin Mary, enthroned as Queen of Heaven, is surrounded by angels, some in attitudes of prayer, others playing musical instruments and singing. Twisting in his mother’s lap, the infant Christ reaches for a lily, a symbol of Mary’s purity, and clutches a goldfinch, an allusion to his...
The story from the Book of Judith revolves around Judith, a daring and beautiful widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver them from their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, with whom she...
Domine, quo vadis? is a c. 1602 painting by the Italian Baroque painter Annibale Carracci (1560–1609), depicting a scene from the apocrypha Acts of Peter. It is housed in the National Gallery, London, where it is given the title Christ appearing to Saint Peter on the Appian Way. The...
The liberation of the apostle Peter is an event described in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 12 in which the apostle Peter is rescued from prison by an angel. Although described in a short textual passage, the tale has given rise to theological discussions and has been the subject...
