In summer of 2019, I had the joy of traveling to Italy. During my time there, I met up with my sister who lives in Istanbul and we took a day trip from Rome to Naples. Our main goal was to see a sculpture called The Veiled Christ located in Cappella Sansevero, a deconsecrated church […]
May
09
Paradox Blessing
posted by laurieetta
Alphonse Mucha is one of my favorite artists. (I’m beginning to realize I have a lot of favorite artists!) I have a book of his complete works in my office at home and at one point in my life, I had a huge poster of his work, Bières de la Meuse (see below), hanging on […]
May
05
Remorse and Repentance
posted by laurieetta
Francisco Goya was a Spanish painter who was very important in the art world. His long career and immense success made him known as the last of the Old Masters art movement and the first of the next movement, the Moderns. It’s hard enough to be apart of one era, much less two. Towards the […]
May
01
Weed-Wacker for the Soul
posted by laurieetta
We’ve had recent rain where I live and it has sure greened-up the landscape. Perhaps that is why I was drawn to this Van Gogh painting. It shows a corner of the garden at the asylum in Saint-Rémy where Van Gogh lived for a time. At first glance, all you see are some tree trunks […]
March
26
Game Changer
posted by laurieetta
Banksy is an English-based street artist who uses creative, unconventional, and satirical images to make political and social commentary. You never know when or where one of his works is going show up, but when it does, it creates quite a stir and is instantly famous. This particular work of his made headlines. On March […]
March
21
Who will show her mercy?
posted by laurieetta
This painting by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri offers us a gorgeous depiction of the story of the woman caught in adultery. The woman is saved from being stoned to death by Jesus’ words, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). Shame, accusation, mercy, judgment […]
March
05
“I am in Torment Within…”
posted by laurieetta
Consider the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. Imagine preaching to people for 40 years but no one listens. Imagine constantly encouraging a nation to act but no one moves. Jeremiah was thrown into prison, into a cistern, and into poverty. He was under house arrest, public torture, and witnessed the burning of his books. No matter […]
February
19
Oops.
posted by laurieetta
In 2012, a Catholic church in the village of Borja in northeast Spain suspected someone had broken in and vandalized one of their 19th century frescos. The fresco in question is a traditional Catholic icon, Ecce Homo, which is Latin for “Behold the man,” the phrase uttered by Pilate when he presents Jesus to the […]
February
12
How Can This Be?
posted by laurieetta
Caravaggio is one of my favorite artists. I have a book of his complete works and I never tire from looking at them. This painting is called the Deposition (meaning “burial” in this context) and is considered one of Caravaggio’s greatest masterpieces. It was painted around 1435 and currently hangs in the Vatican Museum. Caravaggio does […]
February
05
In the Bleak Midwinter
posted by laurieetta
How cruel of me to choose a painting entitled, The Stormy Blast, on a day when the high temperature in the upper Midwest is forecast to be 5 degrees followed by days of subzero temperatures. As payback, our furnace went out this morning, but we are blessed to have alternative ways to heat the house. […]
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