May 19

As One with Authority

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If you have been reading my devotions, you know I love the Italian artist Caravaggio’s work. This painting wasn’t done by him, but the artist, Orazio Borgianni, used Caravaggio as inspiration. That is why we see dramatic lights and darks employed in this composition. Borgianni was an Italian painter as well but spent much time […]

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May 17

Solitude

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This gorgeous oil painting is by Frederic Leighton, a British painter and sculptor from the late 1800s. His paintings were enormously popular and expensive during his lifetime, but for some reason, fell out of favor in the early 20th century. Generally, his work illustrates biblical, classical, and historical subject matters but this painting is more […]

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April 15

Good Friday

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Today is Good Friday. Christ was crucified on this day of Holy Week as reported in all four gospels. Although hard to look at, I wanted to share this depiction of this gruesome act. When I saw it, my eyes were immediately drawn to the eyes of Jesus. I whispered, “I am sorry,” and “thank […]

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March 30

Solitude

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I love the simplicity of this painting. The artist’s limited color palette and simple background ensure nothing distracts the viewer from the subject matter at hand. The artist is Francisco de Zurbarán, a Spanish painter who was prominent in the 1650s and heavily influenced by the Italian painter Caravaggio. In fact, his nickname was “Spanish […]

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March 25

Who Is My Neighbor?

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The parable of the Good Samaritan has been captured in art for centuries but I don’t think I’ve seen a depiction quite like this one. And I love it. The artist is Ferdinand Hodler, one of the best-known Swiss painters of the 19th century. His early works were painted with realism, but toward the end […]

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February 26

Tossed About

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One art lover called this painting by Rembrandt “the coolest painting you’ll never see.” That is because it was stolen from the Boston Museum along with 12 other paintings in 1990. None of them have ever been recovered. If you go to the museum today, all you will see is the eerie sight of an […]

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February 20

The Peaceable Kingdom

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My husband and I enjoy watching the power dynamics that surround the bird feeder in our backyard. The red squirrels are jerks, always jumping on the bird feeder and hogging it for themselves. The rabbits munch happily with an occasional leap in the air when confronted by charging grey squirrels. One particular rabbit seems to […]

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February 11

Past, Present, and Future

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A few weeks ago, one of the readers of this blog sent me a digital image of this painting. She noticed the crucifix hanging above Mary and the newborn baby Jesus. She wasn’t sure if she found the crucifix hilarious or disturbing. So, I did a little digging and this is what I found. This […]

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January 31

Hidden

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This artwork by Belgian artist Rene Magritte has become an iconic image and is possibly one of the most easily recognized surrealist paintings to date. It is entitled The Son of Man and was painted in 1964. It started out as a self-portrait but ended up as an anonymous man in a bowler hat, although […]

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January 25

Regrets and Remorse

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I would like to share this sculpture with you by Jewish artist Herman Wald who was born in Romania in 1906. The title of this piece is The Prodigal Son, based on the biblical parable in Luke. It is the story of a destitute son who squandered his inheritance and remorsefully returns to his father […]

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