Giovan Battista Salvi, otherwise known as Sassoferrato (1609-1685), is an artist of the 17th Century whose career was distinguished by the painting of great portraits and devotional images particularly of the Virgin Mary. Indeed, he is often referred to affectionately as the “painter of the Madonna’s”. His natural style, that depicted his subjects with a […]
In 1603, Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII, commissioned Michael Angelo Merisi, otherwise known as Caravaggio, to produce the masterpiece called “The Sacrifice of Isaac” which is now displayed in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.. As a young artist, Caravaggio learned how to paint in the workshop of Simone Peterzano by studying life forms, […]
Federico Barocci (circa 1535-1612 ) was one of the most highly regarded mannerist painters of the 16th Century. His works were characterised by an exceptional use of colour and the composition of his works are both beautiful and intellectually interesting. Barocci, a third order Franciscan, was a man of faith and it influenced his art. […]
Where? Let’s go below the ground to look at the Churches first historic archive, to relive the authentic message of the Creed of the first Christians. We descend into St Priscilla’s Catacombs in the Via Salaria, Rome. The Catacombs are a place of rest. In naming their burial grounds the first Christians used a vocabulary […]
At the heart of the Pio Clementine collection in the Vatican Museums is the famous sarcophagus known as the ‘ dogmatic sarcophagus’ or simply the ‘dogmatico’. It is a masterpiece of early Christian sculpture from Rome dated to approx. 325-340 AD. Every part of the sculpted funeral monument in some way testifies to the Faith […]
In the Church of Saint Mary in Vallicella in Rome, the home of the Oratorian Congregation founded by St Philip Neri between 1602 and 1604, Michaelangelo Merisi, otherwise known as Caravaggio, was commissioned by the Vittrici family to paint an altar piece depicting one of the sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary: the death of […]
In 1511 Sigismondo de Conti, a humanist who was the secretary of Pope Julius II, commissioned Raphael to produce an altar piece for Santa Maria Aracoeli in the Campidoglio in Rome. In 1515, the altar piece was sent to Foligno to be placed in St Anne’s Monastery. In 1797 that same altar piece was taken […]
When pilgrims meet in St. Peter’s square they usually arrange to: “Meet under the obelisk!”. This great Egyptian monument is really a sundial which is delineated by the colonnade designed by Gianlorenzo Bernini from 1956 to 1667. The obelisk is a great monolithic monument which is made of red granite and stands more than 25 […]
The Lateran Baptistery which stands adjacent to St John Lateran’s Basilica in Rome and is also known as ‘San Giovanni in Fonte’ was the first Baptistery to be constructed after freedom of worship was granted to Christians by the Emperor Constantine with promulgation of the Edict of Milan in 313. The Baptistery stands on the […]
Michael Angelo’s Crucifixion of St Peter in the Pauline Chapel The archeologist and graphologist, Margherita Guarducci, who lead the second phase of excavations to identify St Peter’s tomb in the Vatican Necropolis between 1940-1950, studied the various historic sources arrived at the conclusion that St Peter was crucified in Nero’s Circus in the Vatican on […]