THE VISITATION OF THE VIRGIN TO ELIZABETH
May 29th 2021
The scene is from the Gospel of Luke (Lk 1:39 -56) Having heard the message of the angel, the Virgin Mary leaves Nazareth and goes “into the hill country, to a city of Judah.” She hastens to visit her
MURILLO’S VIRGIN OF THE ROSARY AT DULWICH
May 14th 2021
Murillo painted the subject of the Virgin of the Rosary at least seven times. This is his last one. In all of these paintings, the Virgin is seated with the child Jesus in her arms holding rosary beads. In all
Murillo’s Virgin of the Rosary at the Prado
May 8th 2021
A young mother and her child hold each other close. Both engage the viewer with the same solemn and serious gaze. This mother and child are entirely credible. It would be hard to believe that the models are not a
CARAVAGGIO’S MADONNA OF THE ROSARY
May 1st 2021
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_of_the_Rosary_(Caravaggio)#/media/File:Michelangelo_Merisi,_called_Caravaggio_-_Madonna_of_the_Rosary_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg The great red cloth and the column on the left suggest that the Our Lady and Jesus are seated on a make-shift throne. While the child Jesus stares out at us, Our Lady gestures to a Dominican friar.
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
April 24th 2021
To our Christian eyes, this figure of the Good Shepherd carrying the sheep on his shoulders surely derives from the parable of the lost sheep which is found in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 15:4-5) and, perhaps, also from the
DUCCIO’S APPEARANCE TO THE APOSTLES AT TABLE
April 17th 2021
“Appearance to the Apostles while at Table”, (Maesta) Duccio di Buoninsegno, 1308 -1311, Museo dell’ Opera Metropolitana del Duomo, Siena. You can view this image in high resolution at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duccio_di_Buoninsegna_-_Appearance_While_the_Apostles_are_at_Table_-_WGA06738.jpg Duccio shows the Risen Christ appearing to the eleven
Guercino’s Incredulity of St Thomas
April 10th 2021
Guercino sets the scene at night. Light falls from the right creating a pattern of highlights and shadows. Patches of exposed brickwork are visible on the upper left and right, suggesting that this encounter takes place before a wall.
ZURBARÁN’S CRUCIFIXION, 1627
March 27th 2021
This brightly lit figure of the dead Christ on the cross emerges out of darkness. When people saw this painting hanging in the dimly lit sacristy of the Dominican Priory of San Pablo el Real in Seville, they though
CARAVAGGIO’S DEPOSITION
March 20th 2021
Many of Caravaggio’s contemporaries considered this altarpiece to be his best work. It was painted for the Chapel of the Pietà in the Oratorians’ Chiesa Nuova in Rome. In it, Caravaggio seems to have combined two scenes. It is
GIOVANNI BELLINI’S LAMENTATION OF CHRIST
March 13th 2021
This painting is also known as “The Anointing of Christ” because it shows the dead body of Christ being anointed before burial. Joseph of Arimathea supports the body. Nicodemus holds a container of ointment while Mary Magdalene anoints the wound
