THE DOMINICAN BLESSED
November 1st 2025
“The Dominican Blessed”, left and right piers of the “ San Domenico Altarpiece” Fiesole, 1423-4, Fra Angelico, now at the National Gallery, London. Originally, and as is shown below, these two panels ‘bookended’ the predella of the San Domenico Altarpiece,
Blessed Peter O’Higgins OP by Fr Henry Flanagan OP
October 25th 2025
“Blessed Peter O’Higgins OP”, Fr Henry Flanagan OP, 1985, Newbridge College, Co. Kildare, Ireland. This statue of Blessed Peter O’Higgins OP (1602? -1642) stands outside the Dominican Priory of St Eustace at Newbridge, County Kildare, in Ireland. When Fr Peter
folio 114r Book of Kells
October 18th 2025
“folio 114r, Book of Kells”, Trinity College Dublin. (revised from October 2019) This page illustrates Matthew 26:30: “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” The scene has been interpreted as
VAN GOGH’S GOOD SAMARTIAN
October 11th 2025
“The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix) ”, 1890, Vincent van Gogh, Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands. The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the best known parables in Luke’s Gospel. Van Gogh has left us about 900 and
BELLINI’S ST FRANCIS IN THE DESERT
September 27th 2025
“St Francis in the Desert”, c.1480, Giovanni Bellini, Frick Collection, New York. The use of the word “desert” in the title of this painting belies the landscape it depicts. St Francis is positioned in a landscape which includes a
CARAVAGGIO’S ST MATTHEW AND THE ANGEL
September 17th 2025
Caravaggio had already completed the call of St Matthew and his martyrdom for the lateral walls of the the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, when in 1602 he was commissioned to paint the altarpiece for
TINTORETTO’S CRUCIFIXION AT SAN CASSIANO
September 13th 2025
“Crucifixion”, Tintoretto, 1568, Church of San Cassiano, Venice. Tintoretto shows Christ crucified on waste ground, where only weeds and brambles grow. It seems to be on a ridge or high ground, beyond which Roman soldiers stand with their spears
Murillo’s Birth of the Virgin
September 6th 2025
“The Birth of the Virgin”, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 1661, Louvre, Paris. This painting shows those moments just after the birth of the Virgin. Murillo based the scene on daily life as he knew it in Andalusia. The child is surrounded
THE SYMBOL OF ST LUKE IN THE BOOK OF DURROW
August 29th 2025
Symbol of St Luke, (f.124v) The Book of Durrow, c.650 – c.700, Trinity College Dublin. This page opens the Gospel of Luke in the Book of Durrow. It shows a calf, or perhaps an ox, in a very simple and
