#Christian Art

Jean Bondol and Nicholas Bataille, The Apocalypse Tapestry, 1377-1382 Medieval Art

Biblical Tale in Threads: The Apocalypse Tapestry

Tapestry, a delicate medium, is perfect for an elusive apocalypse narrative. This narrative becomes substantiated through the Book of Revelation, in...

Anna Ingram 9 December 2025

Medieval Art

The Complicated Meaning and Mysterious Origin of The Cloisters Cross

The Cloisters Cross is a beautiful English Romanesque walrus ivory cross, likely dating to the middle of the 12th century. From the moment it...

Alexandra Kiely 9 December 2025

Medieval Art

The Wonder and Glory of Medieval Portable Shrines

For devoted Christians, a portable shrine provided an immediate and intimate way to connect to a higher power within a monastic space or the privacy...

Marga Patterson 9 December 2025

Medieval Art

Thomas Becket: The Imagery of an Unexpected Saint

A controversial figure, no one among his contemporaries would ever have assumed that Thomas Becket, adviser to King Henry II, and later Archbishop of...

Stephanie Skenyon 9 December 2025

WTF Art History

Top 10 Weird Christian Relics

Heads, shoulders, knees, and toes… Saintly toes? The variety of saintly relics really offers it all. I hope all of this is not too morbid for you.

Marta Wiktoria Bryll 8 December 2025

Medieval Art

The Medieval C-3PO? Golden Madonna of Essen

While her gleaming gold body might remind you of a Star Wars droid, this masterpiece is something far more mysterious and sacred. Beneath layers of...

Jimena Aullet 5 December 2025

Medieval Art

All That Glitters: The Sparkling World of Medieval Mosaics

Welcome to the sparkling world of medieval mosaics! Although not as famous as illuminated manuscripts or stained glass, the mosaic was a popular art...

Alexandra Kiely 3 December 2025

Baroque

Francisco de Zurbarán: The Spanish Caravaggio

Francisco de Zurbarán was one of the major Spanish painters of the 17th century. He is especially known for his religious subjects and for the...

Vithória Konzen Dill 7 November 2025

Hieronymus Bosch, Death and the Miser, ca 1485-90, oil on panel, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Death and the Miser by Hieronymus Bosch

Death and the Miser is a masterpiece of morbid curiosity. It reflects on the tension between the pursuit of wealth and the inevitability of death,...

James W Singer 2 November 2025

Renaissance

Carlo Crivelli—Enigmatic Renaissance Trickster

We know very little about the life of Carlo Crivelli. The basics of life and death, and little else. We do have a collection of awe-inspiring works,...

Candy Bedworth 9 October 2025

Quiz

QUIZ: Guess the Catholic Saint

Camilla de Laurentis 4 October 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Harvesters by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

The Harvesters is a masterpiece of the Northern Renaissance. It is a visual contemplation Pieter Bruegel the Elder presented on human’s place...

James W Singer 21 September 2025