Art, Catholic

Holy Week Highlight: Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ Will Be Brought to Life in a Living Picture

The re-creation of the Italian painter’s masterpiece, carried out by internationally renowned moviemakers, will be displayed in Jerusalem, Milan and Rome to bring hope to populations hit by the coronavirus health crisis as Easter approaches. The nine-minute tableau vivant is presented in slow... read more

New Controversy Erupts Over Plans for the Rebuilding of Notre Dame

By Solène Tadié, National Catholic Register, December 29,2020 A leak in the French media suggested the rebuilding of the interior of the cathedral is tilting towards a more contemporary style, but the Archdiocese of Paris insists no decision will be made before the end of March. PARIS,... read more

The Source of Art and Beauty

By John Horvat II, Catholic Thing, December 26, 2020 Paris is the City of Light, full of spectacle, beauty, and art. Yet in these dreary times of coronavirus lockdown, the theaters and concert halls are silent and dark. Artistic beauty finds no refuge from the draconian restrictions that... read more

Finally, the Bishops Talk Sense About Hymns

By Anthony Esolen, Crisis, December 22, 2020 It is axiomatic that nothing well-written ever comes from a committee. So, I regard as miraculous the recent report, Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church, put forth by the doctrinal watchdogs of the United States Conference of Catholic... read more

Italian Art Critic on Vatican Nativity Figures: “Don’t Look At Them…The Religious World Has Been Betrayed”

OnePeterFive, December 17, 2020 Editor’s Note: by way of a colleague and friend in Italy, we received the following translation for publication. It is a commentary on the much-discussed 2020 Vatican Nativity Scene. Translator’s Note: Vittorio Sgarbi is a very well-known figure in... read more

Christmas Trees: Where & When Did They Originate?

By Dave Armstrong, Patheos, December 12, 2020 Catholic Encyclopedia (“Christmas”, 1908, C. C. Martindale): [T]he tradition that trees and flowers blossomed on this night is first quoted from an Arab geographer of the tenth century, and extended to England. In a thirteenth-century French... read more

Pope snubs Vatican’s sci-fi Nativity scene, directs visitors to others

By Philip Pullella, Reuters, December 20, 2020 VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday appeared to add his own thumbs-down to widespread criticism of an unorthodox nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square, telling visitors to instead visit a nearby exhibition of traditional crèches.at... read more

The 2020 Vatican Nativity Scene is Weaponized Ugliness

pic.twitter.com/XwcHXns4MG— Edward Pentin (@EdwardPentin) December 12, 2020 By Steve Skojec, OnePeterFive, December 11, 2020 We knew, over a month ago, that it was coming. It hardly softened the blow to see it. The Vatican Nativity scene for 2020 is…well, it’s horrifyingly... read more

The Assumption of the Virgin

By Brian G. Svoboda, The Catholic Thing, August 15, 2020 At the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, not far from Fenway Park, the sun shines on Fra Angelico’s Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin, which the Dominican friar painted around 1432 as one of four reliquaries for Santa... read more