#religious art

Realism

Eid Al-Fitr – Islamic Prayer in Art

The distinctive ritual of Islamic prayer, known as namaz (in Urdu) or salah (in Arabic) has captivated the imagination of many Orientalist painters.

Maya M. Tola 10 April 2024

Painting

Jesus Christ the Gardener: Noli Me Tangere in Art

How did Jesus inadvertently become a gardener in art? Well, it all started with a simple mistake. But maybe there’s a profound symbolic meaning...

Ela Bobek 1 April 2024

Bizarre

Chilling Beauty: Exploring Europe’s Bone Churches

From the ancient period through the 18th century, European Catholics and Orthodox Christians displayed and maintained bones of the deceased to honor...

Julia Bourbois 28 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Isenheim Altarpiece – Polyptych About Pain and Passion

Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald is a polyptych about pain and passion. It’s a complex piece consisting of several parts and sections,...

Magda Michalska 21 March 2024

Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece, 1432, detail Masterpiece Stories

Ghent Altarpiece: The Charmed Life of the Mystic Lamb

Come with us to visit the Van Eyck brothers, their monumental Ghent Altarpiece, and explore 500 years of intrigue, theft and revolutionary painting techniques.

Candy Bedworth 21 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Três Orixás by Djanira da Motta e Silva

Djanira da Motta e Silva pictured a very unusual Holy Trinity made of three deities from the Afro-Brazilian Pantheon. They are accompanied by...

Alicja Gluszek 17 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Virgin of Guadalupe by Sebastián Zalcedo

The Virgin of Guadalupe depicts the narrative of the Christian Virgin Mary who allegedly appeared multiple times in December 1531 before a Mexican...

James W Singer 17 March 2024

Paintings of Satan. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Ghosts, Devils, and The King of Hell, 1850. Woodblock print. The British Museum, London, UK. Bizarre

5 Paintings of Satan You Haven’t Seen Before

Paintings of Satan are a recurrent theme in art, ranging from religious portrayals to contemporary interpretations. As the symbolic representation of...

Errika Gerakiti 9 March 2024

History

Satan: Artistic Evolution of the Dark Lord

Satan, Lucifer, or the Devil is an archetypal malevolent being deemed the very embodiment of evil, darkness, and temptation within Christianity.

Maya M. Tola 9 March 2024

Art History 101

All You Need to Know About The Last Judgement by Michelangelo

There is a lot happening in this Sistine Chapel altar-wall fresco. Narratives within other narratives that contain enough imagery to last scholars a...

Rachel Witte 9 March 2024

Alvar Aalto, Church of the Three Crosses (Vuoksenniska Church), 1958, Imatra, Finland, photo taken from “Cuadernos de arquitectura, 39” (1960), Elara Fritzenwalden Architecture

Modernizing the Sacrum? The Church of the Three Crosses by Alvar Aalto

When we hear the word “church” the image it evokes is typically either a striking, tall gothic structure or an opulent baroque façade and...

Joanna Kaszubowska 7 March 2024

Renaissance

Power, Victory and Death: Titian in 5 Paintings from Venice

Titian was the most famous painter of the Venetian Renaissance. Even during his lifetime the artist had been acclaimed as the greatest painter of his...

Alina Manevskaya 5 March 2024