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Ehret die frauen
2008-05-19 21:43:00
Marianne Stokes (1855-1927)/ Morris and Company (Merton Abbey)Ehret die Frauen (Honour the Women) 1912Tapestry 174 x 256 cmWhitworth Art Gallery , Manchester The theme is inspired by Friedrich von Schiller's 1796 poem Wurde der frauen (Woman's worth).A group of figures represents (from left to right): Courage, Caring, Love, Wisdom and Fidelity.The verse, designed in gothic type, reads:Ehret die frauen sie flechten und meben ? himmlische rosen ins irdische leben(Honour the women, thy wife and weave heavenly roses into earthly life).

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill
2008-05-19 21:17:00
The Times reports that today that as expected, the House of Commons has approved the most controversial measures contained within the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill In other words measures which other countries have refused to permit will be allowed within the United Kingdom."An amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would have outlawed the creation of ?human admixed embryos? for medical research was defeated in a free vote by a majority of 160, preserving what Gordon Brown regards as a central element of the legislation.The Government, however, is braced for defeat tomorrow on a separate clause that would scrap the requirement that fertility clinics consider a child?s ?need for a father? before treating patients. MPs will also tomorrow consider amendments that would cut the legal limit for abortion from 24 weeks to 22 or 20 weeks.A second amendment, that would have banned the creation only of ?true hybrids? made by fertilising an animal egg with human...

The Sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Guardia
2008-05-19 21:05:00
The Sanctuary of Nostra Signora della Guardia near the Italian sea port of Genova commemorates the apparition of the Madonna that took place on "Monte Figogna" on 29th August 1490 to a local peasant "Benedetto Pareto".The Sanctuary rises at 804 m above sea level, with a unique panoramic view (from Corsica to the Matterhorn).Yesterday Pope Benedict XVI commenced his visit to the Italian city of Genova by first visiting the shrine at Monte Figogna.Later he said:"Many times Pope Benedict XV, your illustrious fellow citizen, went as a pilgrim to that mountain oasis, and in the Vatican Gardens he had a reproduction made of that dear image of the Madonna della Guardia.And just as my venerable predecessor, John Paul II did, in his first apostolic pilgrimage to Genoa, I too wanted to begin my pastoral visit by offering homage to the heavenly Mother of God, who from the height of Mount Figogna watches over the city and all its inhabitants.Tradition tells of how the Madonna, in her first appe...

Marianne Stokes
2008-05-18 21:12:00
Marianne Stokes 1855 - 1927Madonna and Child 1907-8Tempera on board 80 cm (31.5 in.),x 59.5 cm (23.43 in.)Wolverhampton Art Gallery Marianne Stokes (Marianne Preindlsberger) (1855-1927) was born in Graz, Austria.She studied under Wilhelm von Lindenschmidt in MunichIn 1884, while painting in Brittany at Pont-Avon, she met and later married British artist Adrian Stokes. The couple moved to St Ives and both became leading figures in the art colony there. Together they travelled throughout EuropeIn the 1890's she steadily moved towards religious subjects. A strong spirituality pervades her later works.She won a medal at the 1893 Exposition.She was considered one of the leading women artists in BritainIn 1923 she became an associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours.She exhibited in London with these bodies as well as at the Royal Academy, Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Fine Art Society, Grosvenor Gallery, New Gallery and Royal Society of British ArtistsShe abandoned o...

Albert Herbert
2008-05-17 20:58:00
Albert Herbert (1925-2008)Jonah Arrives at Nineveh 2004Oil on canvas20 x 24 inchesPrivate collection Albert Herbert ( 1925-2008) painter and teacher died on May 10th, 2008."Always interested in mysticism, Herbert converted finally to Roman Catholicism, though remaining on an intellectual level fascinated by Buddhism in particular. All this soon showed in his art, with his gradual adoption of religious and mythical subjects, which he saw as an important link between himself and a possibly uncomprehending public. ...Finally arriving at his mature style, he continued to paint primarily biblical subjects, both Old and New Testament, in what one might call a sophisticated primitive style, much influenced by his intense interest in children?s art.And as representational art gradually crept back into favour, fashion finally began to catch up with him, culminating in an extensive and impressive retrospective at the gallery England & Co in Notting Hill in 2004.At last people could unders...
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Liebermann
2008-05-17 20:25:00
Max Liebermann (Germany, 1847?1935)The Twelve-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple with the Scholars, 1879Oil on canvas, (150.5 x 132 cm)Hamburger KunsthalleMax Liebermann (Germany, 1847?1935)Study of the painting "The twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple with the Scholars" 1878.Chalk drawing22,7 x 11,7Private collection South Germany Max Liebermann (July 20, 1847 in Berlin - February 8, 1935) is regarded as the foremost proponent of Impressionism in GermanyHe led the premier avant-garde formation in Germany, the Berliner Secession. Beginning in 1920 he was president of the Prussian academy of arts.With the rise of the Nazi regime in 1933, he was ousted from the Presidency of the Academy, his paintings were removed from all German museums, and he was forbidden either to exhibit or to work.After his death in 1935, his house was looted and his collection stolen and scattered.The artist's wife, Martha Liebermann, was forced to sell the home in 1940. In 1943 she committed suicide in the family ...

The Hard Path
2008-05-17 16:29:00
Fritz von Uhde (1848 - 1911)Schwerer Gang/ The Hard Path 1890Oil on Canvas, 117,0 x 127,0 cmNeue Pinakothek, Munich "When you can assume that your audiences holds the same beliefs you do, you can relax a little and use more normal means of talking to it; when you have to assume that it does not, then you have to make your vision apparent by shock-to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost-blind you draw large and startling figures."Flannery O'Connor

On the Way to Emmaus
2008-05-17 15:55:00
Fritz von Uhde 1848 ? 1911Walking to Emmaus 1891Oil on CanvasGemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden Fritz von Uhde (1848 - 1911) made the acquaintance of Hans Makart in Vienna. In 1876 he left military service in order to dedicate himself to painting.He developed a naturalistic-impressionistic style. In 1892 he belonged to the group of founders of the Munich Secession.Along with Lovis Corinth and Max Slevogt, Uhde is considered to be one of the most important German Impressionists.In his many religious paintings, Uhde wanted to express the timelessness of Jesus? story by depicting him in contemporary settings. At the time they were painted, these religious paintings were popular and praisedHistorians of central Europe agree that the fin de siècle was a time of artistic ferment. It was also a time of renewal and renovation in religious thought.In particular, it was a time when some sought to return to an ideal purity of the early Church. One of the themes was to regard Christ as "man a...

Passion paintings
2008-05-15 20:25:00
Lovis Corinth (1858-1925),Kreuzabnahme, 1895,Oil on canvas , 95 x 120 cmWallraf-Richartz-Museum - Fondation Corboud, Cologne (KÖLN)This picture was the first for which Corinth found a buyer. It is still in the ownership of the family to whom it was sold.Lovis Corinth (1858-1925),Christ Carrying the Cross. 1904Städel Museum, Frankfurt.
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Lovis Corinth
2008-05-14 20:51:00
Lovis Corinth (1858-1925)Samson Blinded , 1912.Oil on canvas, 130 × 105 cm,Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, National-GalerieLovis Corinth (1858-1925)The Red Christ , 1922.Oil on wood, 135.7 × 107.7 cm,Staatsgalerie moderner Kunst, MunichLovis Corinth (1858-1925)Ecce Homo , 1925.Oil on canvas, 190.5 × 150.0 cm,Kunstsammlung Basel, Kunstmuseum Lovis Corinth (1858-1925) is one of the greatest German artists of the late 19th century and the early modern period but still relatively little known outside of Germany.He is considered one of the important precursors to German ExpressionismHe painted scenes of mythology, religion, landscape and urban environments.Fron 1884-7 he was in Paris and was a pupil of Bouguereau at the Academie Julian in Paris. There he became influenced by Rembrandt, Hals and Rubens.He suffered partial paralysis as the result of a stroke in 1911. Just before the stroke, he had been producing some of his greatest work and on a prodigious scale. The stroke felled him at a h...

Cardinal Bernardin Gantin
2008-05-14 19:20:00
It has been announced that Cardinal Bernardin Gantin died in Paris yesterday."He was appointed at the age of 34, auxilary bishop of the diocese of CotonouIn 1960 he was appointed the first black Roman Catholic archbishop in AfricaIn 1971, Pope Paul VI summoned him to Rome as number 2 at Propaganda Fide (now the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples) the Vatican congregation charged with activities in the missions.Three years later he was made vice president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.A year later he became its president, and in 1977 Paul VI named him a Cardinal.The following year, the short-lived John Paul I appointed Gantin president of Cor Unum, the pontifical council charged with distributing humanitarian aid.Six years later, Pope John Paul II (with whom Gantin had been friends since their meeting at Vatican II) appointed him to one of the most important posts in the Roman Curia as prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.In 1993, Gantin became the fi...

The Altar of Holy Blood
2008-05-13 20:00:00
Tilman Riemenschneider (ca. 1460?1531)Heilig-Blut-Altar (Holy Blood Altar), (1501-1505)St. Jakobus ChurchRothenburg ob der Tauber, Franconia, Bavaria The altar was commissioned so as to hold a relic of the Precious Blood.The altar shows the Last Supper, the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem and the scene at the Mount of Olives.

Angels with Candlesticks
2008-05-12 20:09:00
Tilman Riemenschneider (ca. 1460?1531)Two Angels with Candlesticks c.1505Carved limewood with traces of paintVictoria and Albert Museum, London The candlesticks were made for the tiny church at Wolferstetten.

Saint Matthias the Apostle
2008-05-12 19:56:00
Tilman Riemenschneider (ca. 1460?1531)Saint Matthias , c. 1500?1505Limewood; H. 104.5 cm (41 1/8 in.), W. 32 cm (12 5/8 in.), D. 19 cm (7 1/2 in.)Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Skulpturensammlung Riemenschneider was active in Würzburg from about 1483 until 1531. He was one of the first sculptors to abandon polychromy (the application of colour to sculpture) on occasion. He made a conscious decision to leave visible his favoured material, limewood.St Matthias was present when St. Peter called on the faithful to select an apostle to replace the traitor Judas (Acts 1:15-26). He was a witness to the Resurrection (Acts 1:21-22). He was chosen by casting lots between him and Joseph.After selection he was identified as apostle with the other eleven apostles.
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Remedios Varo
2008-05-10 19:53:00
Remedios Varo (1908-1963)Hacia la torre /Toward the Tower 1960Oil on Masonite 123 x 100 cm.MonterreyRemedios Varo (1908-1963)Ascensión al monte análago/ Ascent To Mt Analog, 1960.Oil on Masonite 67 x 31 cm.México Remedios Varo (1908-1963) was born in Spain.When young, she travelled throughout Spain with her father, a hydraulic engineer. She was educated in Spanish convent schools.She moved to Paris where she became involved within the Surrealist movement. She was one of the few female Surrealist artists. She incorporated many scientific ideas into her paintingsIn 1942 she moved to Mexico City with her husband, Benjamin Péret, to escape the Nazi occupation of France.Her meticulous and multivalent paintings have long been celebrated in Mexico, her adopted home.This year is the centenary of her birth.

Westminster Cathedral
2008-05-10 14:02:00
Mgr Mark Langham at Westminster Cathedral , London is stepping down as Administrator of Westminster Cathedral, to take sabbatical leave before starting in a new post later in the yearThe new Administrator is Fr Christopher TuckwellBloggers will know him from his excellent website Solomon, I Have Surpassed Thee.In his time he has done a great deal to move the Cathedral forward and to secure its future. He will be missed.

Interior of St. Etienne du Mont
2008-05-10 11:06:00
Émile Antoine François Herson, 1805-1873Interior of St. Etienne du Mont 1864Watercolour and gum heightening with gouache highlights over graphite underdrawing on paperHeight: 18.1 cm, width: 25.5 cmThe Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

Pentecost: The Spirit and the Eucharist
2008-05-09 22:33:00
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo 1696 - 1770Saint Paschal Baylon's vision of the Eucharist 1767Oil on canvasHeight: 63.6 cm; Width: 38.7 cmCourtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London Saint Paschal Baylon (or Pascal Baylon) (24 May 1540?17 May 1592) was a Spanish friar. His feast day is 17th May.He was born in Aragon, on 24 May 1540, on the Feast of Pentecost . He was called after the Spanish phrase for the Feast of Pentecost.He spent his youth as a shepherdHe joined the Reformed Franciscan Order (Alcantarine Reform) as a lay brother. He chose to live in poor monasteriesA mystic and contemplative, he had frequent ecstatic visions.Pope Leo XIII proclaimed Saint Paschal Baylon, the "seraph of the Eucharist", Patron of eucharistic congresses and all contemporary and future eucharistic associations.Pope Benedict XVI explained the link between the Spirit and the Eucharist thus:"12. The Paraclete, Christ's first gift to those who believe, already at work in Creation (cf. Gen 1:2), is fully presen...
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The Problem of Evil
2008-05-09 21:04:00
Odilon RedonL'ange déchu (1890-95) (The Dethroned Angel)Paint on canvas H. 24 ; L. 33.5Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux John Habgood, formerly Anglican Archbishop of York, reviews the book Out of Eden: Adam and Eve and the problem of evil by Paul W. Kahn in this week`s Times Literary Supplement.The review is entitled: The sanctity of evil - Is the capacity for evil one of the defining characteristics of our humanity? A book which begins with the sentence “Evil makes us Human� must surely compel attention. This is no ordinary account of what is usually meant by the problem of evil, where the main emphasis is on justifying the ways of God to man.Instead, Paul W. Kahn’s aim is to explore the nature of evil itself.He interprets it, not just as doing or experiencing bad things, but as “a way of being in the world�. Evil, he claims, is about making ourselves the source of our own meaning, a meaning inevitably negated by death, the certainty of which gives urgency and depth to t...
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Frances Richards
2008-05-08 22:37:00
Frances Richards 1903-1985Pentecost, from The Acts of the Apostles 1929Intaglio print on paperimage: 190 x 140 mmon paper, printTate Gallery, London
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Little Gidding
2008-05-08 22:27:00
Jacopo Caraglio (Printmaker; c.1500 - 1565)The Pentecost 1520-1539Engraving on paper 380 millimetres x 265 millimetresThe British Museum, London ?The dove descending breaks the airWith flame of incandescent terrorOf which the tongues declareThe one discharge from sin and error.The only hope, or else despairLies in the choice of pyre of pyre?To be redeemed from fire by fire.Who then devised the torment? Love.Love is the unfamiliar NameBehind the hands that woveThe intolerable shirt of flameWhich human power cannot remove.We only live, only suspireConsumed by either fire or fire.?--Section IV, Little Gidding, ?Four Quartets?, by T. S. EliotWritten primarily in the first half of 1941, the poem was both aided and hindered by the German air raids on London.

Gregorian Chant -
2008-05-07 20:09:00
Rendition of part of the "Dies Irae": "Ego sum Ressurectio,"
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Mary Berry
2008-05-07 19:10:00
Dr. Mary Berry and the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge meeting with Pope John Paul II in Rome The obituary section of The Times reported today on the death of Sister Mary Berry, CBE, musicologist and nun, who died on May 1, 2008, aged 90.Musicologist, nun and don of the University of Cambridge, Mary Berry was hugely influential in reviving Gregorian chant in Britain and abroad."Through the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge she promoted the teaching, study and performance of Gregorian liturgical music within a 2,000-year-old tradition of Christian song and, after the sweeping changes generated by the Second Vatican Council in the mid-1960s, she preserved the chant and kept it alive at a time when the old certainties were falling all around her. ...In 1938 she was received into the Catholic Church by the Bishop of Liège before graduating with a music degree from Cambridge.Then war broke out. When she was nursing with the Red Cross, her calling took a deeper turn. In March 1940 she joined ...

Fifth Marian dogma ?
2008-05-06 21:46:00
William Bouguereau born 1825 - died 1905La Vierge au Lys/ The Virgin of the Lilies. 1899Oil on canvasPrivate collection Cardinal Telesphore Toppo (former president of the episcopal conference of India) and four other cardinals are asking the Pope to proclaim Mary "the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the co-redemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one mediator, and advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race."Zenit presents a Q and A session with the Cardinal. In particular he stresses the commitment of many bishops and archbishops worldwide to the promulgation of the new dogma.
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Charity
2008-05-05 19:55:00
Jacques BLANCHARD 1600 - 1638La Charité 1633Oil on canvas: H. : 1,1 m. ; L. : 1,36 m.Collection de Louis XIVMusée du Louvre, Paris On 4th April 2008, Cardinal Paul Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum spoke to the spring meeting in Leeds of the Bishops' Council of England and Wales. The theme of the talk was Pope Benedict's first Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est (God is Love).The official text of the address has now been published by Zenit.The full text can be accessed here.One of the main themes of the talk is that the main burden of responsibility for its implementation in dioceses and parishes is placed squarely on the shoulders of the bishops.He also talks about the origins of the Encyclical: how it came to be drafted and why the Encyclical marks a "shift in paradigm" in regard to the basic guidelines for a "spirituality" of those working in help-agencies."This rooting of the Church's engagement in God was undoubtedly one of the deepest motivations that led ...
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The Spirit and St Jerome
2008-05-05 11:26:00
Jacques Blanchard (b. 1600, Paris, d. 1638, Paris)Saint Jérôme écrivant (St Jerome writing) 1631-1632Oil on canvas 114, x. 77 cmMusée de Grenoble, GrenobleJacques Blanchard (1600-1638)St Jerome 1632Oil on canvas,57 1/4 x 45 5/8 inches (145.5 x 116 cm)Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest In the comparatively small number of works left to us by Blanchard, there are a number of commissions of paintings of the great Church Father and Doctor, St Jerome.St Jerome is of course a common theme in religious painting. But these paintings are different from the run of the mill depictions of St Jerome. One notable feature of the paintings is the characterisation of St Jerome: the size, power, energy and passion of the man. This is not a frail intellectual ascetic. This is a Jerome impelled and driven by the Holy Spirit .Of the painting now in Budapest, one critic has written:"One of the best works of the painter who was called "the French Titian". The composition and the colours manifest the influence o...
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Pentecost 3
2008-05-05 00:49:00
Jacques Blanchard 1600-1638La descente du Saint Esprit/ The descent of the Holy Spirit [May 1634]Oil on canvasChapelle des Fonds Baptismaux,La cathédrale Notre-Dame, Paris "We celebrate the great feast of Pentecost , in which the liturgy has us relive the birth of the Church, according to what St Luke narrates in the book of the Acts of the Apostles (2: 1-13).Fifty days after Easter, the Holy Spirit descended on the community of disciples - "with one accord devoted themselves to prayer" - gathered with "Mary, the mother of Jesus" and with the Twelve Apostles (cf. Acts 1: 14; 2: 1).We can therefore say that the Church had its solemn beginning with the descent of the Holy Spirit.In this extraordinary event we find the essential and qualifying characteristics of the Church: the Church is one, like the community at Pentecost, who were united in prayer and "concordant": "were of one heart and soul" (Acts 4: 32). " BENEDICT XVI: Saint Peter's Square, Pentecost Sunday, 27 May 2007...

Pentecost 2
2008-05-04 11:32:00
L' église Saint-JacquesGrenobleAnne Tiessé b.1940Le PentecôteFrescoL' église Saint-JacquesGrenoble The Church of Saint-Jacques was renovated. The artist Anne Tiessé was the artist commissioned for the renovation. She lives in Grenoble.The Church`s website is here.The artist`s website is here.
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Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz: Joanna (Joan) the Mad
2008-05-03 19:40:00
F. Pradilla y Ortiz : 1848-1921Doña Juana La Loca (Showing Juana [Joan ] the Mad holding vigil over the coffin of her late husband, Philip the Handsome)1877Oil on Canvas 340 x 500 cmMuseo del Prado, MadridF. Pradilla y Ortiz: 1848-1921La reina doña Juana 'la Loca', recluida en Tordesillas con su hija, la infanta doña Catalina/ Queen Joanna [Joan] the Mad in seclusion in Tordesillas with her daughter Princess Catalina 1906Oil on canvas 85 cm x 146 cmMuseo del Prado, Madrid Francisco Pradilla Ortiz (July 24, 1848?November 1, 1921) was a prolific Spanish painter famous for creating historical scenes. He was also a master of the landscapeIn 1878 he submitted his painting Doña Joanna of Castile (or Juana la Loca) to the National Exhibition in Spain and was awarded the Medal of Honour.He traveled, mostly in Italy, portraying local themes and people. In 1897 he returned to Madrid as the director of the Museo del Prado.His total output was well over 1,100 worksPradilla did several represent...

St Francis Borja
2008-05-03 19:29:00
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (March 30, 1746 ? April 16, 1828)San Francisco de Borja y el moribundo impenitente/ St Francis Borja at the Deathbed of an Impenitent (1788)Oil on Canvas 350 x 300 cmMuseum of the Cathedral of Valencia, Valencia, Spain Mengs was called to Madrid in the summer of 1761 to serve as first court painter to Carlos III.In 1774, Goya moved to Madrid. There, he studied with Mengs, who had called him there to study with him. He clashed with his master, and his examinations were unsatisfactory. Goya submitted entries for the Royal Academy of Fine Art in 1763 and 1766, but was denied entrance. It took a long while for Goya to establish himself as a recognised artist after this. But he did.Mengs had great influence over the practice and theory of art in Spain, particularly in the years following his death in 1779. A Spanish edition of his writings was published in 1780. At the time in Spain his writings were described as "the catechism of good taste and the cod...
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