Last month, I was on a Marian retreat for five days. I wasn't thinking about work at all, but a thought came to me out of the blue to make all our web-quality images free (needless to say, I made a note of the inspiration and then didn't think about it the rest of the retreat. by the way, you should go a Marian retreat someday). I asked the boss about it after the retreat, he said yes, we talked some more about Kansas weather and Irish tin whistles, and here we are.
June 29th is the feastday of the Apostles St. Peter and Paul. The artist Doménikos Theotokópoulos is commonly known as el greco (the Greek). He painted this lovely image of Saint Peter and Paul around the end of the 16th century. You'll notice Paul holding his symbol in art, the sword, and Peter holding his art symbol, the keys of the Catholic Church. The two great Apostles, who are distinctly eyeing the viewer, extend their hands in a manner suggesting they will connect wrists.
The month of May is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. People have used a variety of traditions, prayers, customs and hymns to manifest this special devotion. A few examples are singing Marian hymns after the family rosary, making sure there are always fresh cut flowers at her statues, pilgrimages to local Marian shrines, extra rosaries and more. If you hurry, you can catch the tail
Russian artist Ivan Kramskoi painted this profoundly cold and lonely version of Christ in the Wilderness in 1872. Jesus sits in solitude on a cold boulder as the dawn begins to break. His folded hands and pensive expression suggest He's just passed the night in prayer and fasting. It's interesting to see that a garment wraps His arms, suggesting a chilly outdoor temperature, while His feet remain bare — they must be freezing!
You weren't in the 17th-century artists' club until you took a crack at painting the Virgin Mary as the Immaculate Conception. There wasn't any universally accepted way to portray this abstract theme in the art world until the Spaniard, Francesco Pacheco (1564-1644), wrote down some ground rules on how artists should portray the Immaculate Conception — here are a few: You weren't in the 17th-century artists' club until you took a crack at painting the Virgin Mary as the Immaculate Conception. There wasn't any universally accepted way to portray this abstract theme in the art world until the Spaniard, Francesco Pacheco (1564-1644), wrote down some ground rules
A joyous feastday to you! February 2nd is the feast of Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary as well as the Presentation of Jesus in the temple.
St. Paul was a christian hunter before he miraculously converted while road tripping. He was on his way to Damascus , tracking down christians, when God knocked him off his trusty steed.
The conversion of St. Paul has been a favorite theme for artists to tackle ever since. There are certainly many other paintings of Paul ...
Not much is known about the Italian Baroque artist Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato. He's typically called Sassoferrato for short, which is the name of the place he came from in Italy.
You can haul wine into your local Catholic church and get it blessed by the priest on the feast of St. John the Evangelist, December 27th. I did just that and brought a case to the communion rail after mass. That's right, at participating locations, the priest imparts the Church's blessing on the vino, which turns it into a sacramental. Catholics drink the wine throughout ...