FRA ANGELICO’S NOLI ME TANGERE AT SAN MARCO
April 4th 2026
“Noli Me Tangere”, Fra Angelico, 1440-1, Museo Nazionale di San Marco, Florence. This beautiful fresco was painted on the wall of a friar’s cell at the Dominican Priory of San Marco in Florence. A strong light shines almost horizontally from
Giovanni Bellini’s Lamentation over the Dead Christ
March 28th 2026
“Lament over the Dead Christ”, Giovanni Bellini 1473-6, Vatican Museums. In all four gospels, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. The man on the left who holds the dead body upright must be Joseph.
ZURBARÀN’S CRUCIFIXION
March 21st 2026
“The Crucifixion”, 1627, Francisco de Zurbarán, The Art Institute of Chicago, Robert A. Waller Memorial Fund. When people first saw this painting they though it was a sculpture. I remember experiencing the same illusion when I saw this painting in
DUCCIO’S HEALING OF THE MAN BORN BLIND
March 14th 2026
In today’s gospel we have the healing of the man born blind. The miracle was shown in this panel from Duccio’s Maestà: his great altarpiece made for the Cathedral in Siena. In the centre, before his disciples, Jesus anoints the
CARAVAGGIO’S DENIAL OF ST PETER
March 7th 2026
“Denial of St Peter” 1609/10, Caravaggio, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The story of St Peter’s three-fold denial of Jesus is told in all four gospels. Here Caravaggio manages to include much of the detail given in these narratives
Bellini’s Transfiguration at Naples
February 28th 2026
Christ’s clothes are as bright as the white clouds on the horizon behind him, yet they lack the intense luminosity suggested by the gospel accounts. His right hand casts a shadow as does the cloth of his garment. As always,
DUCCIO’S TEMPTATION ON THE MOUNTAIN
February 21st 2026
“Temptation of Christ on the Mountain”, Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308–11, Frick Collection, New York. This panel illustrates the third temptation from today’s gospel. “The devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the
CARAVAGGIO’S ECCE HOMO AT GENOA
February 14th 2026
“Ecce Homo”, c. 1605, Caravaggio, Musei di Strada Nuova, Galleria di Palazzo Bianco, Genoa. This might be a scene from the Passion according to John which we will read on Good Friday. Having had Jesus scourged, Pliate
Caravaggio’s Seven Acts of Mercy
February 7th 2026
“The Seven Acts of Mercy”, Caravaggio, 1606/07, Chiesa Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples. This is Caravaggio’s version of Mary as the Mother of Mercy. Usually, artists showed Mary as the mother of mercy with a cloak spread out with people
Mantegna’s Presentation
January 31st 2026
“The Presentation in the Temple”, Andrea Mantegna, c.1454, Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche, Museen su Berlin. Mantegna captures that moment just before Mary hands over the child to Simeon. The focus of the painting is on the mother handing over her child. Mary
