Way of Beauty

The Nativity of Jesus has been inspiring Christian art since Christian art first began.  One of the most primitive Christian images, in fact, dating back to the third century and found in the Catacombs of Priscilla in Rome, is a picture of…

The art known as Gothic began in the middle of the 12th century in France. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the Gothic language or the Gothic ethnicity; the name Gothic was first used as an insult by its detractors.  The aesthetic ideas…

Certainly one of the most gifted and original painters of all time, Caravaggio (1571–1610) was also a moral shipwreck of the first order. The dramatic play of shadows that is the characteristic mark of his style somehow reflects the…

In addition to elaborate or even simple processions, one way in which many Catholics have expressed their devotion toward the feast of Corpus Christi is through works of art. If one were to look at Christian art throughout the centuries,…

Few introductions to the history of art recount — and still fewer museum exhibitions today display — the remarkable productions of a movement called Les Ateliers d’art sacré. Unlike so many of the masterpieces that we enjoy today in the…

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

by Elizabeth Lev Michelangelo’s first masterpiece, the Pietà, was concocted out of the most unlikely ingredients: a rookie sculptor known for pagan subjects, a worldly pope whose name was synonymous with corruption, and subject matter not…

When looking at the Disputation over the Most Holy Sacrament, or The Disputa, a fresco created by Italian Renaissance painter Raphael, one thing stands out most: its emphasis on the Eucharist. Measuring 200 inches by 300 inches, The…

Among the most well-known early Church leaders are Sts. Peter and Paul. These two remarkable men had very different beginnings, yet would go on to become Jesus’ foremost apostles and would eventually be martyred for their faith. Peter, a…

One biblical event that has always astonished me is the Ascension. I remember when I first learned about it when I was young, I couldn’t help being struck by how sad it made me feel. Jesus, who had died a horrible death, had just returned…