The Vatican, last week, unveiled the 2020 Christmas crèche in St. Peter’s Square. Historical tradition explains that St. Francis of Assisi was the first to promote the display of the birth of […]
Vatican Creche – 2020 – A Contemptuous Insult
Virgin Mary: Trust and Obedience in the Lord
On this solemnity of the Annunciation, March 25th, we remember St. Luke’s account of the Annunciation: “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of […]
Bernini’s Bronze Sculpture of Four “Giants” of the Church
Today, May 2nd, is the “Memorial” day of St. Athanasius, a Doctor (profound theologian) of the Church. There are four “giants” of the Nicene and Post Nicene period, all are known as […]
Sacred Icons and Sacred Images – the Nicene Debate Continues!
I would like to thank one of my readers who identified the contemporary icon of St. Spyridon (thanks Carol!). The iconographer is the Catholic priest William Hart McNichols. He is a very […]
St. Athanasius and St. Spyridon: A Correction and Another Interpretation – Let’s Take A Closer Look!
I am always very appreciative of my readers writing to me and providing new information and interpretations of sacred icons and images. Happily, that occurred last evening when a reader, Mr. John […]
St. Athanasius – Coptic and Eastern Orthodox Icons
St. Athanasius of Alexandria was “the Lion” of the Council of Nicaea. He was instrumental in providing well argued testimony rebuking the heretic Arius during the Council’s debates. His verbal skills, as […]
Icons – Important Similarities/Differences
Can you pick out the seven similarities between the two sacred icons of Church Apologists that are below? The differences? Let’s take a look at the two icons above. Both are […]
Christian Witness and Sacred Art – The Early Church Fathers – Part 7
A Challenge: Are you as a Christian artist willing to internalize the message of the saint, scene, or Scripture passage you are artistically representing, and then, correctly portray it according to Church […]
St. Joseph’s Art Workshop, Lesson 2: Obtaining, Drawing, and Applying the Sacred Image to A Panel
If you click on the Tab in the Menu titled St. Joseph’s Art Workshop, and scroll down, you will find my recent addition (as of April 26, 2018) on painting a sacred […]
St. Joseph’s Art Workshop – Part 3: Pigments and Mediums
Good day, I just posted, starting at # 8 in the list, Part 3: Pigments and Mediums, required to paint the sacred image. Please note that the pigments in bold face are […]
St. Joseph’s Art Workshop: Part 1 and 2 – Materials
I just posted Part 1 and 2, which deals with the materials needed to paint a sacred image. It can be found within the St. Joseph’s Art Workshop tab in the Menu […]
The Canon of a Catholic Sacred Artist
Allow me to suggest to my fellow Catholic sacred artists a “canon” of ten fundamental propositions. These ideas and proposals are my personal musings. They assist me in organizing my thoughts and […]
St. Joseph’s Art Workshop – A Resource for Sacred Artists and Students
If you are interested in actually creating a sacred image in the tradition of the Roman Catholic (Latin Rite) Church then please click on the Tab in the Menu Bar above Fra Angelico’s […]
Jesus Our Savior – An Image that is a Work in Progress
I have the happy service of presenting a new workshop to interested adults from Massachusetts and Rhode Island beginning on Saturday February 14th, 2015. In an attempt to give everyone individual attention […]
Albert Lapierre – Sacred Artist and Iconographer
This past July I had the pleasure of restoring an icon that was written by the fine artist, Albert Lapierre, from Attleboro, Massachusetts. It is a beautifully done and was commissioned by […]
Beautiful Russian Sacred Icons at the New Haven Knights of Columbus Museum
If you are in the vicinity of New Haven, Connecticut within the next two weeks take the opportunity to stop by the Knights of Columbus Museum for their magnificent exhibit entitled “Windows […]
A Recent Art Workshop Leads to Another! – The Fra Angelico Institute
This past month the Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts was happy to sponsor a two day workshop. The purpose of this workshop was to introduce people to the idea that […]
Aidan Hart’s New Book on Sacred Iconography
The article below is reblogged from the always informative Orthodox Arts Journal. The article is the 9th in a series about sacred iconography that was written by Brother Aidan Hart, a British […]
Evgeny Baranov’s Miniature Icons and Rashid and Inessa Azbuhanov Icon Carvings
My sincere thanks to Jonathan Pageau at the Orthodox Arts Journal, http://www.orthodoxartsjournal.org/, for permission to repost his wonderful presentation of the sacred icon miniatures of Russian artist Evgeny Baranov and the spectacular icon wood […]
Theophilus, the Art of Iconography, and the Contemporary Sacred Artist – Part 2
Please take a moment to read the first part of this multi-part essay that I posted a few days ago. I am requesting that you do this in order for you to […]
Theophilus, Iconography, and the Contemporary Sacred Artist – Part One
Today’s sacred artist within the Western tradition may have been exposed to many different artistic traditions. Artists may have been classically trained in a formal academy such as the Florence Academy of […]
Our Lady of Guadalupe – An Icon of The Woman Who Will Crush The Serpent
Today’s feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of all the Americas, recalls the apparition of our Blessed Mother on the hill of Tepeyac in present day Mexico City. This approved apparition occurred […]
The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today is the memorial of the Queenship of Mary. Through the centuries, sacred icons and images have expressed the Queenship and Coronation of the Holy Theotokos – the Mother of God. The […]
St. Clare – Our Holy Friend and Lover of God
The Church honors today, August 11th, the holy woman, consecrated virgin, founder and Abbess of the religious order known as the Poor Clares, and dear friend of St. Francis of Assisi. We […]
Fr. Richard Reiser’s Beautiful Icon of the Transfiguration
The article that is found below my opening comments, and the image of the Transfiguration, is reblogged, through the courtesy of Fr. Richard Reiser, St. James Catholic Church Omaha, Nebraska. I really […]
We Receive and Give Awards – We Are Deeply Touched!
The Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts is truly honored to receive three blogging awards. Teresa Rice at Catholiclibertarian has nominated this blog for three awards: The Illuminating Blogger Award, The […]
The Transfiguration of Christ
Today we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This feast has been celebrated since the 5th century. It was inserted into the general calendar of the […]
Thank You! Our One Year Anniversary!
We are so very grateful to everyone who has visited this website over the past year. It was on August 1, 2011 that I posted my first essay. By midnight tonight over […]
Summer 2012 Workshop in Painting Sacred Images – A Few Reflections
Over the past six years I have participated in numerous workshops in sacred art and have produced a number of sacred images, each of which helped me understand the techniques of this […]
A Sacred Image – The Sun of Justice, Jesus Christ
You are probably thinking, the poor old fellow has made a mistake in his spelling. Shouldn’t the title read “Son” of Justice? One evening a passage from Evening Prayer in the Divine […]
Ken Jan Woo – sacred artist
Please see my post of July 9, 2020 entitled Chinese Martyrs and the Art of Ken Jan Woo. Thank you.
Icons, Icon Painters, and Praying With Sacred Icons: PART 3
My favorite sacred icon of Our Lord Jesus Christ is the 6th century encaustic icon of Christ Pantocrator (Christ The Almighty One) from St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula. This sacred image was a […]
Part Two: Icons, Icon Painters, and Praying With Sacred Icons
The sacred icon is a visual aid that helps the person enter into a conversation with God, an angel, or a saint. If a sacred icon is to be painted with this […]
A New Class of Iconographers Begin Their Studies: The Work of The Holy Spirit
On Wednesday evening, May 23rd, ten members of the Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts here in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island USA were commissioned and blessed to […]
Icons, Icon Painters, and Praying With Sacred Icons: Part One
A few issues have come up in discussing some basic terms with people. I would like to be clear on how I have come to understand these words because it may affect […]
St. Francis of Assisi, Simplicity, and Sacred Artists
Today is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. He is one of the patrons of the Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts. St. Francis reminds us how we admire, […]
Sacred Artists Must Be Empty Vessels
In this morning’s Gospel St. Luke is clear that Jesus is carefully listening to the argument that breaks out among His disciples as to who is the greatest among them. One translation […]
The Triumph of the Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows by Jed Gibbons
Today we celebrate the feast of the Exaltation – or Triumph – of the Holy Cross. The early Catholic Church was intensely persecuted during the first 280 years of its life – […]
Sacred Iconography and Personal Creativity – Do Not be Afraid!
What is iconography? The Sacred Iconography Guild is one of the twelve Sacred Arts Guilds that is sponsored by the Fra Angelico Institute. As of this post we have six members of […]
The Eternal Now and the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today is the memorial of the Coronation of our Blessed Mother. Sacred icons and images have expressed the Queenship and Coronation of the Holy Theotokos – the Mother of God – for […]
The Dormition – Assumption of Mary
Over the past two weeks, our Sunday Gospels have stressed the truth that to be a faithful disciple of Christ we must keep our focus – in good times and bad – […]
A Reflection on St. Matthew 14: 22-33
Today’s Gospel reading cuts right to the heart of the matter – and asks the question: do we have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ? St. Peter certainly came face-to-face with that […]
