Brief Thoughts on The Passion of Christ through Honthorst’s Eyes
Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”…
Caravaggio’s Madonna of the Rosary
James from Amor Sciendi and I collaborated on his latest video, “The Madonna of the Rosary and the Counter Reformation.” You can watch the video below and read the article for more information. Please visit the Amor Sciendi YouTube channel…
A Quiet Holiness: Caravaggio’s Madonna di Loreto
Gentle, sensuous, tender, human. These are just a few of the words that describe Caravaggio’s depictions of the Virgin Mary. His Marian works rarely, if ever, reflect the same vibrant optimism seen in his peers’ paintings of the Virgin.1 Rather, glorification of the…
Valentin de Boulogne’s Christ & the Adulteress
One of my favorite accounts of Jesus’ life comes from John 7:53 – 8:11. While at the temple teaching, the Pharisees bring Jesus a woman who was caught in adultery. As they bring charges against the woman before Christ, saying…
Caravaggio the Leader
In her biography of Caravaggio, Helen Langdon refers to Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s “evangelical call to young artists,”1 welcoming and encouraging them to pursue his new and modern style. Historical documents paint a different picture, of a Caravaggio who fiercely guarded…
The Mughal Empire: Jahangir
The Mughal empire represents a unique and fascinating period in art history: the Empire was simultaneously Muslim (Sunni) and Indian, interweaving not only Muslim and Indian faiths, but also their politics, cultural practices, and of course art and architecture. This…
Heaven
In the sixteenth century and seventeenth centuries, the Catholic Church was engaged in an ideological war with (among others) Martin Luther, the young professor and preacher from the North. As his teachings spread across Europe, the Church needed a way…
The Nativity
The Nativity of Jesus is drawn from accounts of Christ’s birth in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. Following the Annunciation, Mary tells Joseph that she is with child and goes to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John…
The Annunciation
Hello readers! Merry Christmas! In the coming days before Christmas, we’re going to examine the Christmas story, starting with the Annunciation. This is an important event in Christianity and one of the most popular iconographies in Marian art. Before we start…
Baroque Spain: El Greco. Death and the Supernatural.
This week in the Spanish Baroque series will be a little different. We’re going to take a look at the art of El Greco. Today, we’ll examine his Burial of the Count of Orgaz. I will try to post a…
