Way of Beauty

BY GINA LOEHR “The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream” (Matthew 2:13) — for the second time! This striking depiction of The Dream of Joseph by Anton Raphael Mengs (1728–1779) imagines Joseph receiving the divine commission to…

by Gina Loehr Paris, 1867. The World’s Fair, a gathering so full of character and culture that it attracted more than 9 million visitors during the course of the nine-month exposition. Among the exhibits at the fair was the work of the…

by Fr. Anthony Giambrone, OP Dutch genre and landscape painting is a wonderful, placid gift to the world. The humble serenity that perfumes these images of simple people and daily chores, of pleasant homes and peaceful homelands, breathes a…

Pictured above: Madonna and Child, 1907–08 (tempera on panel) by Marianne Stokes (1855–1927) Mary beheld the face of God in her own arms. When she gazed down upon her child, God looked back at her. What an extraordinary mystery! Countless…

BY GINA LOEHR The joy of Christmas is best understood by children. Excused from the stress of planning, blissfully unaware of the expenses of gift-giving and the labor of holiday preparations, little ones are free to simply relish the glory…

"Moses" by Michelangelo in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.

by Elizabeth Lev In the late 12th century, Ubaldo Lanfranchi, archbishop of Pisa, returned from the Holy Land to his native city. As papal legate to the Third Crusade, he traveled with 52 ships, which he had filled with dirt from Mount…

by Fr. Anthony Giambrone, OP Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1450–1516) is certainly one of the most singular visionaries in the history of Western religious art. While the essential theology and moral message of his images accords perfectly with…

Spanning the gap between the late medieval world and the so-called modern age, a phenomenon called the devotio moderna reshaped European religious sensibilities. A variety of pious interests characterize this loose movement, which strove to…

BY ELIZABETH LEV If the Virgin Mary is the most visually represented woman in history, then the Annunciation is the most favored scene from her life. Centuries of artists have fashioned images of this scene according to the spirituality of…