St Dominic in The Rosary Chapel at Vence
August 2nd 2025
“St Dominic”, Rosary Chapel, Vence, Henri Matisse, 1947-1951. I came across this image of St Dominic on the day I was given the Dominican habit. Fr Fergus clothed me and he mentioned it in his homily. This line drawing of
CARAVAGGIO’S RAISING OF LAZARUS
July 26th 2025
“The Raising of Lazarus”, Caravaggio, 1609, Museo Regionale, Messina Sicily. On Tuesday, we celebrate the feast of the sibling saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus. The gospel for their feast day is John 11:19 -27, in which Martha professes faith in
Bassani’s Good Samaritan
July 6th 2025
“The Good Samaritan”, Jacobo Bassano, 1562-3, National Gallery London. In this picture the Good Samaritan encounters the man who fell among robbers on a road which descends steeply to Jericho. Further along the road, we can see both a Temple
Caravaggio’s “Doubting Thomas”
June 28th 2025
“Doubting Thomas”, c.1601/02, Caravaggio, Bildergalerie, Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam, Germany. This image is notable for the intense focus on the wound in the side of the Risen Christ. All four figures stare intently at the finger as it penetrates
Mass in a Connemara Cabin, Aloyius O’Kelly
June 21st 2025
“Mass in a Connemara Cabin”, Aloysius O’Kelly, 1883, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. A young priest gives the final blessing at a Station Mass. His vestments are white and there is a picture of the Sacred Heart in the background,
Cover Panels from Edinburgh’s Trinity Altarpiece
June 13th 2025
Cover Panels from “The Trinity Altarpiece”, Hugo van der Goes, 1478-9, National Galleries of Scotland. One way to get people to think about the doctrine of the Trinity is to ask them to draw God. When asked to draw God,
GIOTTO”S PENTECOST AT THE CAPELLA SCROVEGNI IN PADUA
June 6th 2025
“Pentecost”, Giotto di Bondone, 1305, Capella Scrovegni, Padua. Giotto frescoed the walls of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua with 38 scenes drawn from the life of Christ, the Virgin, and her parents, Joachim and Anna. He arranged them in chronological
Fr Fergus’ Portrait
May 31st 2025
Fr Fergus Kerr OP, David Williams 2023, printed by Pradip Malde, Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Back in 2023, we needed a good photograph of Fr Fergus for his collection of essays, “From Aberdeen to Oxford”, so the photographer David Williams
Tintoretto’s Visitation
May 24th 2025
“Visitation”, Tintoretto, 1588, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice. This “Visitation” was positioned high up on the main staircase of the Scoula Grande di San Rocco near an annunciation by Titian. However, the light was poor and at such
LIPPI’S DOMINIC WITH A KNIFE
May 17th 2025
“The Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Dominic”, Filippino Lippi, c.1485, National Gallery London (room 60). For many years we had an oil painting of St Dominic in our London Priory. It was very dark, but then we
