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 […]
Saint Nicholas Slaps a Heretic! A Reflection Appropriate for Palm Sunday
The extensive Gospel reading for Palm Sunday relates the Scriptural and historical truth that Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem, yet, five days later He was arrested, put on trial, tortured, and executed. As […]
Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32. The Prodigal: Which Brother Are We?
I once heard a friend repeat a quote by the author Katherine Mansfield: If you wish to live, you must first attend your own funeral.” How true. We begin to live life […]
Christ in the Wilderness: Lent – the Season of Preparation – Luke 4: 1-2.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing […]
Apologists – Additional Saints Prior to the Council of Nicaea
Today’s post will continue to add to my two previous posts: The Apologists (Defenders of the Faith) – Part 7, and The Apologists – Comparing Icons. The men below are also known […]
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 […]
The Apostolic Fathers in Roman Catholic Sacred Art – Part Six
This post and an upcoming posts will very briefly explain some of the major figures in the Church history during the period of AD 65 through AD 155 – the period known […]
Roman Catholic Sacred Art – Three Major Stages
Allow me to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I can do that because, liturgically, we are still in the Christmas Season! That Season ends this Sunday […]
Art Schematic of Church Painting
This is an easier way to view the material within yesterday’s post. Copyright © 2011- 2018 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved
St. Joseph’s Art Workshop: Lesson 4 – Applying Color and Modeling the Face
Just wanted to notify the people who are following the art lessons in my St. Joseph Art Workshop tab that I just published Lesson 4: Applying Color and Modeling the Face. You […]
Fra Angelico’s Four Reliquaries for the Church of Santa Maria Novella – Part 4 of the “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition
Today’s post is Part 4 in my series that began on May 16, 2018 concerning the recently concluded exhibition of extraordinary egg tempera paintings by the Dominican friar Beato Fra Angelico. The […]
Fra Angelico and the Armadio degli Argenti – Part 3 of the “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition
Today’s post is Part 3 in my series that began on May 16, 2018 concerning the recently concluded exhibition of extraordinary egg tempera paintings by Fra Angelico. The exhibition was held at […]
St. Joseph’s Art Workshop – Lesson 3 – Applying Pigment
To all those that have expressed interest in the FREE on-line sacred art workshop that I am offering here at fraangelicoinstitute.com please note that yesterday I posted Lesson 3 in Exercise 1: […]
Fra Angelico – “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition – Part 2 – Ascension, Pentecost, the Last Judgement
I hope you had a blessed Feast of Pentecost! Please read Part 1 of “Fra Angelico – Heaven on Earth” (posted here on May 16, 2018) in order to receive a proper […]
Fra Angelico – The “Heaven on Earth” Exhibition – Part 1
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts is the only venue in America for the extraordinary “Fra Angelico: Heaven on Earth” exhibition. This amazing collection of reliquaries which express the life […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Gospel of John 1:35-42 – An Invitation to Follow Jesus
In our Gospel today we hear John the Baptist proclaim “Behold the Lamb of God.” We see in our mind’s eye, Andrew and another disciple, probably St. John, listening to the Baptist […]
Link to the Film Within the Post: The Sacred Artist’s Cultivation of Silence
A few readers have emailed me to say that they are having a problem linking to the film mentioned in yesterday’s post. Since many subscribers receive these postings through their email address the […]
The Sacred Artist’s Cultivation of Silence
I recently received a post from the always challenging and informative blog entitled Catholicism Pure and Simple. It features a short film by the Benedictine monk Abbot Christopher Jamison, O.S.B. In this […]
The Way of Beauty On-Line Course and Reimbursement Scholarship Opportunities
The mission of the Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts is to teach the truth, goodness, and beauty of God through the prayerful creation of sacred art. We are happy to […]
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 […]
Discipleship, Wisdom’s Light, and the Art of Charles Bosseron Chambers
The Gospel of Luke 8:16-18 emphasizes that God desires us to respond to His generosity by using our gifts in union with His wisdom and grace. The Lord desires to give us […]
David Clayton Has Another Great Idea for Catholic Evangelization
The following essay was written by David Clayton a lecturer in sacred art, author of the very fine book on the implementation of the New Evangelization of the Catholic Church entitled The […]
The Little Oratory – A Beginner’s Guide to Praying in the Home – A New Book by Clayton and Lawler
Friend and fellow sacred artist David Clayton, in association with Leila Marie Lawler, has written a wonderful book entitled The Little Oratory: A Beginner’s Guide to Praying in the Home. Sophia Institute […]
The Black Mass at Harvard – Is It A Hate Crime?
News reports have been circulating the story that Harvard University’s Memorial Hall will be the site of a Satanic Black Mass on Monday evening May 12, 2014. The Satanic Mass, by its […]
Eugene Burnand and The Greatest Easter Painting Ever Made | Crisis Magazine
Clicking on the attached link found below produces an excellent article by Elise Ehrhard in Crisis Magazine describing the Swiss painter Eugène Burnand’s late 19th century masterpiece The Disciples Peter and John Running to […]
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 […]
Correction on Medieval Graffiti Post
It has come to my attention that the links for today’s post that was sent by email to my subscribers are not appropriately linking to Matt Champion’s or Robin Stummers’ articles in The […]
Medieval Graffiti in English Churches – The Case of John Lydgate, O.S.B.
A fascinating series of articles came to my attention today by Tatjana Jovanovic, a top contributor of a Linkedin group called Medieval and Renaissance Art, Antiques, Architecture, Archaeology, History and Music. Her article […]
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 […]
The Messages of St. Joseph – His Predestination and Preeminence
Readers: The statement below proclaims that the apparitions and messages have been approved by a few Roman Catholic bishops. I provide them here for your edification and prayerful consideration in light of […]
Christ in the Wilderness, a Russian Artist, and a Challenge
In the late 19th century a Russian painter, the noted portraitist, draughtsman, and teacher Ivan Kramskoi painted a haunting image of Jesus alone in the desert. It is a painting which expresses […]
Sin and the Sacred Artist
Our society is quite adept at pointing out the sins and foolishness of others. Cable TV, radio talk shows, and various web sites love to dwell on the ignorant and immoral actions […]
PREPARE! Bruno Mars in Light of Matthew 5: 13-16
If you had the opportunity to watch the Super Bowl half-time show last weekend you saw that there were a number of symbolic messages that were being sent by the producers and […]
Baptism, Discipleship, and the Art of Lorenzo Lotto
In our Gospel last week we stood at the banks of the Jordan River and witnessed Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. Today we hear John announce to all that the Spirit of […]
“The Nativity” – Presented by the Jim and Jane Henson Family Puppets – Christmas Eve on CBS
Floridian Sean Keohane, a member of the Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts, and a participant in the beautiful CBS/Paulist Production of “The Nativity” sent me the following information on an […]
Mary and Joseph’s “Yes” – The Risk of an Open Heart
Our Gospel today (4th Sunday of Advent, Matthew 1: 18-24)) provides us with the story of a young couple, Mary and Joseph, who through their pondering of God’s request for understanding and trust […]
Thanksgiving Day – A Christian Homily
Ken Burns’ extraordinary film series on World War 2 was recently on PBS. In that series, he explored the lives of a variety of Americans – average people – in and out […]
The Apocalypse and Christian Duty – 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
It has been said that we are living between times – between Advents – in the times between Christ’s first coming – as an infant in the manger, and His second coming […]
God’s Playfulness – Video and Verse
If you have a moment, click on this link, expand the very brief video to full screen, then sit back and enjoy the playfulness of God and the gift of His creative […]
St. Francis of Assisi, Faith, and Grace
The following is my homily for the 27th Week in Ordinary time delivered at St. Francis of Assisi Church Wakefield, Rhode Island USA, October 6, 2013. The memorial of St. Francis of […]
The Virtue of Christian Responsibility
This weekend’s Gospel (26th Week in Ordinary Time) about Lazarus, and a rich man by the name of Dives, is filled with very concrete images about the virtue of Christian responsibility. Jesus’ […]
