They don't make them like they used to!

Drop-front secretaire MOLITOR, Bernard, 1789, veneered oak



cabinet, MEKEREN, Jan van 1690-1710. Oak, veneered with various woods



chest of drawers, unknown cabinet maker, French, 1770



Cast Bronze Baptismal Font,from 1107-18, REINER DE HU



Layetter Cupboard, unknown Dutch Cabinet Maker, circa 1650




French Table, circa 1700, unknown

Thought for the Day

Ecclesiasticus 26 7:40 In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.

The Life of St John the Baptist in Art

Thursday, June 24 is the feast of St. John the Baptist. Our Lord tells us that "amongst those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist." (Luke 7:28) God ordained that this great saint be born under extraordinary circumstances, having been cleansed of Original Sin, while still in the womb. For this reason, the Church celebrates not only the day of his birth into eternal life, but the day of his birth into this world as well.


Zachary's wife Elizabeth was beyong childbearing age, and John's birth was foretold by the angel Gabriel to the priest Zachary, John's father, who was temporarily struck dumb for his disbelief, receiving the power of speech again only at John's circumcision.


When Mary visited and greeted Elizabeth, who was in her sixth month, Our Lord, in Mary's womb, implemented Sanctifying grace to John, whose mission in God's plan was to be the forerunner of Christ. And he whose joy it was to prepare the way for the Lamb of God and who rejoiced "because of the Bridegroom's voice" (John 3:29)did recognize the presence of Jesus and Mary before he was even born, and this moved him to leap for joy in his mother's womb.


St John the Baptist lived in the desert for some thirty years before he began his public ministry.


He went into the country around Jordan preaching to "do penance for the kingdom of heaven was at hand," (Matthew 3:2)


His clothes were made of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loins, and he came neither eating or drinking. (Matthew 11:18)


John baptized his listeners in the Jordan, challenging their pride by calling them all a "brood of vipers," (Luke 3:7-9) and earning himself his name, "The Baptist."


After some time of John's preaching, Jesus came to be baptized by him, and John gave testimony that Jesus was the Son of God, but at first John refused to baptize Jesus, saying "I ought to be baptized by thee, and comest thou to me?" (Matthew 3:14).


When Herod fell in love with his niece Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Philip, and brought her to Galilee, John publicly rebuked Herod, and at Herodias' bidding, was bound and thrown in prison. "She laid snares for him: and was desirous to put him to death" (Mark 6:19).


John the baptist was the undaunted champion of truth and virtue, and Herodias was furious with him, swaying Herod to put John to death. The daughter of Herodias, named Salome, danced before Herod, and pleased him such that he said he would grant her anything she wished for.


Under the influence of her mother, Salome was swayed. "Who when she had gone out, said to her mother, What shall I ask? But her mother said: The head of John the Baptist. 25 And when she had come in immediately with haste to the king, she asked, saying: I will that forthwith you give me in a dish, the head of John the Baptist. 26 And the king was struck sad. Yet because of his oath, and because of them that were with him at table, he would not displease her: 27 But sending an executioner, he commanded that his head should be brought in a dish." (Mark 6:24-28)


The Church celebrates the feast day of the beheading of John the Baptist on August 29.

The new header

Did you notice the new header? It will stay up for the month of September, since it is a scene of the birth of the Virgin Mary. This fresco was painted in 1486 by Domenico Ghirlandaio. Notice the angels dancing in the upper windows, delighting in the birth of Mary. Below them, the Latin inscription reads: Thy birth, O Virgin and Mother of God, brings joy to all the world.

Indeed.

Artistic Portrayals of the Assumption of Mary

As promised, here is my artistic collection of images of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. Browse through them, and if you wish to take one for your own blog or files, please feel free. The beauty of religious art is like a prayer, and here is my prayer to the Blessed Virgin on her Feast of the Assumption. Clicking on each image will enlarge it for better viewing of the artistic details.



The Death of Mary, by Benozzo Gozzoli, 1484, transferred fresco, at Biblioteca Comunale, Castelfiorentino



The Assumption of the Virgin by Veronese?



Assumption, by Paolo Veronese, 1558, at Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice



By the same artist, another Assumption of the Virgin, by Paolo Veronese, 1586, oil on canvas, at Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice



Assumption of the Virgin by Martin Knoller 1774, oil on canvas, at Musée du Louvre, Paris



Assumption of the Virgin, by Juan de Valdes Leal, 1659, oil on canvas, at National Gallery of Art, Washington



Assumption of the Virgin, by Andrea Vaccaro, date unknown, oil on canvas, private collection


Assumption of the Virgin, by Vecellio Tiziano, 1516-18, oil on wood, at Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice



Assumption of the Virgin, by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, 1735, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris



The Assumption of the Virgin, Andre del Sarto, 1526-29, oil on panel, Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence



The Assumption of Mary, by Peter Paul Ruebens, 1512-14, oil on panel, at Mauritshuis, The Hague



The Assumption of Mary, by Palma Vecchio, 1512-14, oil on panel, at Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice



The Assumption of the Virgin, by Nicolas Poussin, oil on canvas, 1650, at Musée du Louvre, Paris



Unknown title, date and artist



Unknown title, date and artist



Unknown title, date and artist

Symbolism in Art

This painting, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, painted in 1849, is titled the Girlhood of the Virgin Mary, and shows Mary being educated by her mother, Saint Anne. St. Anne is teaching Mary to embroider a white lily on a red panel. The angel is holding up a lily which Mary is copying to her panel. The books represent her virtues and charity, and the lily her purity and innocence. The white dove outside the window with the halo is the Holy Spirit. The red robe hanging on the wall will belong to Jesus, and Saint Joachim tends to the vine, representing the vine-dresser in Our Lord's parable. The vine represents the sacrifice of Christ's life for our salvation.

If you look at the trellis in the centre of the painting, you can clearly see a cross formed. In the forefront of the painting, there is a seven leafed palm and a rose stem with seven thorns. The seven leaves of the palm represent the divinity of Christ, and the seven thorns of the rose, the seven sorrows of Mary. The cord that binds them together fortells the Passion of Christ and unites the Passion of Jesus to the Sorrows of Mary.

It gives a whole new outlook into a painting when all the symbolism is brought to light, doesn't it?

Naturally Beautiful

A total solar eclipse is seen in Jiuquan, in China's western Gansu province Friday Aug 1, 2008.



A bird flies in the sky as a solar eclipse is seen in Xiangfan in central China's Hubei province Friday Aug. 1, 2008.




Another view of a total solar eclipse as seen in Jiuquan, in China's western Gansu province Friday Aug. 1, 2008.



The total solar eclipse is observed above the Siberian city of Novosibirsk on Friday, Aug. 1, 2008



The partial solar eclipse is seen, pictured through the telescope of the observatory of the University of Applied Science in Kiel, northern Germany, on Friday, Aug. 1, 2008




The moon partially covers the sun over the Orthodox Church during a solar eclipse seen in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008.



The moon partially covers the sun the during a solar eclipse observed in Kabul, Afghanistan , Friday, Aug. 1, 2008.



Partial solar eclipse is seen against a crescent of Islamabad's grand Faisal mosque in Pakistan on Aug 1, 2008




A woman looks at the moon partly covering the sun, during a partial solar eclipse, in St.Petersburg, Russia, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008



A bird flies by, as the moon partially covers the sun, during a partial solar eclipse in Srinagar, India, Friday, Aug. 1, 2008.

Incredible, aren't they? I found them while scrolling around the internet, looking at pictures from space on Canoe.ca news the other night. I have more, pictures taken by the Hubble telescope, but that is for another time. God's creation is so amazing!

An Old Tradition

Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci 1483

Matthew 2:13 And after they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him.

There is an ancient tradition that during the Holy Family's flight into Egypt, they paused to rest in a cave belonging to a thief and his family. The thief and his wife had an infant son the same age as Jesus. This baby was covered in leprosy. Mary was very grateful for the cave lodgings and food the family had provided, and she took pity on their baby. The Blessed Virgin told the mother to place her son in the water she had used to bathe Jesus. As soon as the thief's baby was placed in the water, his leprosy was healed. His skin was completely clean, with no sign of the previous affliction.

Many years passed, with Jesus growing in age, wisdom and grace, but the son of the thief took the trade of his father. When Jesus met him again, he was hanging on the cross on the right side of Jesus, having been sentenced to death for his crimes. He is known to us as the good thief, the one who said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:42-43) The Church recognizes him as Saint Dismus. His mother's kind deed of taking in the Holy Family so long ago had won for him the grace of final repentance.

This story was well known during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance when Leonardo da Vinci painted the image of the Virgin of the Rocks. Notice how the angel is pointing at the thief's baby, drawing the viewer's attention to him. The Blessed Virgin is covering him with her mantle, and the baby's posture looks like he is genuflecting and folding his little hands in prayer as Christ, who is beside the angel, blesses him. The baby appears to be about to dive into the pool of water in the foreground; the bath water that healed him of his leprosy.

Set for the Fall

"Perhaps the cross, which chance would oft design
Upon the floor of Joseph's homely shed,
Across Thy brow serene and heart divine
A passing cloud of Golgotha would spread."

The above picture is one of Jesus at His daily chores in the house of His parents. He is gathering up wood chips from the work of Joseph, who appears to be making a plough. The Blessed Virgin has a look of foreboding on her face, no doubt brought on by the appearance of the cross in the pile of wood chips that were swept up for Jesus to carry away. She must be remembering the words of Simeon the prophet:

Luke 2:34 And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; 35 And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.

This painting, an oil on canvas, is titled Our Saviour Subject to His Parents at Nazareth, and was painted by John Rogers Herbert in 1847.

Art of the Past Centuries

One of my favourite hobbies is searching for beautiful religious art of the past ages, and I have found some really incredible pictures I would like to show you. If you click on each picture, they will enlarge for better viewing.


This one was painted by Paolo Veneziano in 1350 and graces the walls of the Gallerie dell'Accademia, in Venice.




This oil on copper painting of 1590 is of Saint Peter walking on the water, by Alessandro Allori and is displayed in the Galleria degli Uffizi, in Florence.




This is a Fresco of The Holy Trinity, St Jerome and Two Saints, painted in 1453 by Andrea del Castagno and is displayed in Annunziata, Florence.




This is one of the truly beautiful paintings of the Assumption of the Virgin that I have seen. It was painted in oil in 1526 by Andrea del Sarto and graces the walls of the Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), in Florence.




Here is Saint Dominic in Soriano, an oil on canvas painted in 1660 by Pedro Anastasio Bocanegra. It is in the Hermitage, in St. Petersburg.





The above is an oil on wood painting (1596) by Cigoli, of Saint Francis as he receives the stigmata. It is found in the Galleria degli Uffizi, in Florence.




The Liberation of Saint Peter, painted in 1514 by Sanzio Raffaello, is found at the Pontifical Palace of the Vatican.



Also by Sanzio Raffaello, The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, a tapestry from 1519 in silk and wool with silver-gilt threads, that is kept in the Vatican museum.




The above is an oil on canvas of Saint Catherine painted in 1505 by Fernando Yanez de la Almedina. It is kept at the Museo del Prado, in Madrid.



One last image for you - that of Elijah being fed by an angel. It is an oil on canvas, from a private collection and was painted in 1660 by Ferdinand Bol. Notice the beautiful use of light in this painting.

There is so much beautiful religious art from past ages to be seen on the internet that I could go on for hours showing you more, but I have worked 48 hours in the past four days at my real job, so I better say goodnight! If only there were artists today who painted religious scenes like these ones!