Way of Beauty

by Fr. Anthony Giambrone, OP For Maurice Denis (1870–1943), the vocation to create sacred art was clear from his youth. At the age of 15, with a sense of destined conviction, he wrote the following words in his journal: “I have to be a…

by Fr. Anthony Giambrone, OP Around the turn of the 20th century, a burst of creative energy was transforming the artistic landscape of western civilization in revolutionary ways. In countries such as France and Poland, where both the…

Blasco de Grañén, a Spanish artist from Zaragoza in the kingdom of Aragon, painted Nativity in the 15th century to depict the Magi adoring the Christ Child. Presumably it was created as one panel in a much larger retablo, an elaborate…

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…

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…

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…