Monthly Archives: Apr 2025

In the older rites of the Church on the Wednesday of Holy Week it is the tradition to read the Passion from the Gospel of Saint Luke. One of the most beautiful passages from this account are the words that passed between Jesus and Saint Dismas, the penitent thief who was crucified with him: ‘andContinue reading “Dismas and Gestas”

On the Tuesday of Holy Week the readings at today’s Mass focus on the Jesus predicting the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Saint Peter.  The iconography of the image expresses the idea of the value of repentance personified in the example of Saint Peter who, at a crucial moment of the Passion, deniesContinue reading “Peter’s Tears”

On the Monday of Holy Week the Gospel at today’s Mass recalls that six days before the Passover Jesus ‘came to Bethania, where Lazarus had been dead, whom Jesus raised to life. And they made him a supper there: and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that were at table with him. MaryContinue reading “Three Friends of Jesus”

Many Christians around the world today will be celebrating Palm Sunday, Christ’s final entry into Jerusalem and the beginning of that last journey to his death and resurrection. A week that sees Jesus welcomed as an earthly King with shouts of Hosanna before his murder with common criminals, a testament to the worst traits ofContinue reading “Hosanna”

This portrait of Mulay Ahmad, the ruler of Tunis, is a rare 17th-century portrayal of an African sovereign. But it’s not a portrait from life. Rubens based the painting on an earlier work by Jan Vermeyen, who traveled to North Africa in 1535 on a military campaign led by the Holy Roman Emperor.  Rubens clearlyContinue reading “Ruben’s African King”

Baltasar Carlos, two-year-old heir to the Spanish throne, was the son of Philip IV. As official painter to the king, Velázquez created countless portraits of Philip and his family. Here, despite his young age, the prince is posed as an adult, standing at attention next to a person with dwarfism, who may be a jester.Continue reading “The boy who would be King”

Today is the First Passion Sunday, when the season of Lent becomes more even sombre, as catholics leave the spiritual desert and prepare to accompany Jesus on his final journey to Jerusalem. The liturgy becomes starker and the statues and images in churches are covered by heavy purple drapes. Reflecting this mood I thought IContinue reading “Christ after the flagellation”

Today is the Feast of Saint Isidore of Seville (c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. The Roman Martyrology tells us that he “shed lustre on his country by his zeal for the Catholic faith”, while the 19th-century historian Montalembert described him as “the last scholar of theContinue reading “The last scholar of the ancient world”

This is one of only seven securely attributed still-life paintings by the Spanish artist Juan Sánchez Cotán. Each one depicts food arranged in a dark, shallow niche. Balanced on the ledge is a curved cardoon, an edible plant related to the artichoke. Hanging on the wall is a type of game bird called a francolin.Continue reading “Golden Age Abstraction”