Saint Sebastian (1480) by Andrea Mantegna - Public Domain Catholic Painting
St. Sebastian is the subject of three paintings by the Italian Early Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna.
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Free downloadable Renaissance Catholic paintings in the public domain.
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Jacob Returning to Canaan with Rachael and Leah Pursued by Laban (1525) by Unknown - Public Domain Bible Painting
In the Book of Genesis, the son of Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, went to Haran, saw a well where shepherds were gathering their flocks to water them and met Laban's younger daughter, Rachel, his first cousin; she was working as a shepherdess. Jacob was 77 years old, and he loved Rachel immediately.
Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist (1500s or later) by follower of Bernardino Luini - Public Domain Bible Painting
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. Despite its biblical
Adoration of the Magi (early 1440s) by Konrad Laib - Public Domain Bible Painting
Laib was a German painter who spent most of his career in Austria. Proof that he came to Salzburg at an early age is suggested by the stylistic affinity of many of his works with Salzburg painting, including this one.
Saint Fiacre Blessing a Donor (1510–1515) by Unknown - Public Domain Catholic Painting
A saint, holding an abbot or bishop’s crozier, blesses a kneeling figure, probably the donor who commissioned the window. It forms a pair with another panel showing Saint Fiacre, also owned by the Museum.
King David Receiving the Cistern Water of Bethlehem (1515–1520) by Antwerp Mannerist - Public Domain Bible Painting
This scene and that of King Solomon Receiving the Queen of Sheba are particularly fine examples of the decorative style practiced in Antwerp by a group of largely anonymous artists now dubbed Antwerp Mannerists.
The Annunciation (1390–1395) by Tommaso del Mazza - Public Domain Bible Painting
The words Ave gratia plena Dominus tecum (Greetings most favored one! The Lord is with you) from Saint Luke’s Gospel (1:8) emerge from the archangel Gabriel’s mouth as he announces the conception of Christ to the Virgin Mary.
The Miraculous Draught of Fishes (1563) by Joachim Beuckelaer - Public Domain Bible Painting
At the left, Saint Peter and other disciples of Christ pull their teeming nets of fish aboard a boat. After an unsuccessful night of fishing on the Sea of Tiberius, the tired and hungry disciples had seen a man standing on the shore and followed his advice to cast their nets over the boat's right…
The Trinity with the Virgin, Saints John the Evangelist, Stephen and Lawrence and a Donor (1479) by The Peter Hemmel von Andlau Workshop - Public Domain Catholic Painting
God the Father sits enthroned, holding the crucified Christ with the Holy Spirit between them, all three dominating the composition. Together they represent the Trinity, the central doctrine of the Christian faith, in which all three are united as one.
The Dream of Pope Sergius (1430s) by Workshop of Rogier van der Weyden - Public Domain Catholic Painting
A cut-away wall reveals a small bedroom where an angel appears to Pope Sergius in his sleep. The angel tells Sergius that the bishop Saint Lambert has been assassinated and Sergius is to appoint a new bishop, Saint Hubert.
Judith with the Head of Holofernes (1431–1506) by Andrea Mantegna - Public Domain Bible Painting
The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Septuagint and the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible, but excluded from the Hebrew canon and assigned by Protestants to the apocrypha.
The Crucifixion (1500–1510) by Unknown - Public Domain Catholic Painting
This monumental panel probably once decorated a chapel. Both are from a large window in which the Crucifixion was in the center and the Saint Christopher at the right. The third panel, which would have been on the left, is lost.
Mosaic Portrait of Pope Clement VIII (1600–1601) by Jacopo Ligozzi - Public Domain Catholic Painting
“Commesso can best preserve antiquity and memory...and can resist all the battles of water and wind and other mishaps of fortune and of time.” Thus Giorgio Vasari wrote of commesso, a newly revived antique technique for making pictures with cut stone.
Nativity (1420–1422) by Gentile da Fabriano - Public Domain Catholic Painting
In this painting Gentile da Fabriano combined several different devotional and biblical subjects: the Madonna of Humility, the Nativity, and the Annunciation to the Shepherds. As the Madonna of Humility, the Virgin sits upon the ground, her hands folded as she worships the child in her lap.
Virgin and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1450) by Carolino da Viterbo - Public Domain Catholic Painting
In his right hand, the Christ child grasps a stem of roses. The beauty and fragrance of roses symbolize heaven, while their thorny stems allude to the crown of thorns and Christ's suffering. The bird he holds in his left hand symbolizes the human soul.
The Adoration of the Magi (1440–1445) by Giovanni di Paolo - Public Domain Catholic Painting
According to the Gospel of Matthew, three Magi, guided by a star, found the newborn Christ and laid gifts before him.
Lazarus and the Rich Man (1550) by Jacopo Bassano - Public Domain Bible Painting
The Biblical parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-21) tells of a man who feasted and celebrated every day, while a beggar named Lazarus sat starving nearby. Dogs came to lick the sores on the poor man's body.
Catherine of Siena Invested with the Dominican Habit (1460s) by Giovanni di Paolo - Public Domain Catholic Painting
Saint Catherine (1347–1380) was the daughter of a prosperous Sienese cloth dyer. At the age of six, she saw a vision of Christ and thereafter dedicated herself to chastity, penance, and good works.
Preparation for the Crucifixion (early 1600s) by Unknown - Public Domain Bible Painting
Despite the religious subject, the scale and intricate detail indicate that this painting was not for a church setting. Instead, as an independent work of art, a collector would have admired its artistry and unusual combination of Italian and northern European traditions.
The Annunciation and The Nativity (1457) by Jaume Ferrer - Public Domain Catholic Painting
In this painting, the Archangel Gabriel proclaims the Virgin’s destiny as the mother of Christ. The setting is an ordinary house, but simple objects have symbolic meaning.
Virgin and Child (1490–1500) by Pintoricchio - Public Domain Catholic Painting
Bernardino di Betto, called Pinturicchio, is said to have acquired his nickname ("little painter") because of his small stature, and used it to sign some of his paintings.
Madonna of Humility (1440) by Far Angelico - Public Domain Catholic Painting
As a Dominican monk, Fra Angelico was not subject to the strict rules of the Florentine painters’ guild. He was thus free to develop a more personal style. This combined strong realism and solid forms with a certain sweetness partly derived from earlier Sienese and Florentine examples.
St Bridget of Sweden (1540s) by Maso da San Friano - Public Domain Catholic Painting
Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303 – 23 July 1373); born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, was a mystic and saint, and founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after the death of her husband of twenty years.
Madonna and Child Enthroned (1350) by Master of San Lucchese - Public Domain Catholic Painting
Seated on an elaborate throne, the Madonna’s weighty majesty emphasizes her role as the Queen of Heaven as she gazes at her infant son. The child, in turn, stares at the viewer.