Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts

In our celebration of the memorial of St. Francis of Assisi we must pause for a moment and examine the virtues that motivated and energized his life. We can begin by saying that he was a simple ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2024/10/04/the-virtues-of-st-francis-of-assisi-a-model-for-sacred-artists-october-4th/

By this time the majority of the 2.3 billion Christians that live on the face of the earth have probably heard of the outrageous and blasphemous opening act of the 2024 Olympics. One part of the ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2024/07/28/olympic-outrage-2024-and-sacred-art-symbolism/

The alleged sexual abuse scandal and charges leveled against sacred artist and former Jesuit priest Marko Rupnik have caused outrage and the call to remove his art from numerous churches, cathedr...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2024/07/09/marko-rupnik-alleged-sexual-abuse-and-sacred-art/

In this Gospel passage from Matthew 20: 1-16, the Lord explains that the last workers called (a veiled reference to the Gentiles) were paid the same as the first (Israel) because they made the ef...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2023/09/23/matthew-20-christs-vineyard/

Today’s Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the revelation of the Incarnation of God, as the child Jesus, to the gentile nations. The Gospel of Mathew (Mt 2: 1-12) speaks of distinguished foreig...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2023/01/08/epiphany-2023-and-malinda-k-reese/

The other night I watched the popular, opinionated, and entertaining BBC art historian Waldemar Januszczak discuss Medieval and Renaissance art. Over the years he has presented many shows on vari...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2022/04/14/waldemar-januszczak-is-wrong-about-the-shroud-of-turin/

You may consider the mosaic of Christ speaking with two disciples on the journey to Emmaus to be a strange image to use today, Ash Wednesday, since it is found in Scripture as taking place after ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2022/03/02/a-journey/

One of my goals in painting the above image of St. Peter was to provide a catechist/observer with seven focus ideas within one image. This sacred image also presents some of the life events of th...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2022/01/25/naive-sacred-art-st-peter-a-lesson-plan/

This is a beautiful painting. Yet, I think something is wrong. It’s not the technical expertise, that is very good, or the colors, they are well chosen. I believe it is St. Joseph himself. He i...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2021/12/23/bethlehem-journey/

Sacred art, by its very nature, is catechetical. The purpose of this art was and continues to be a method of instruction. The Catholic Church, in its Latin and Greek Rites, and the twenty-six Cat...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2021/06/26/catechetical-art-compressing-key-ideas-into-one-image-of-jesus-and-king-david/

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity.  The Holy Trinity, one of the five Dogmas of the Church, is an extraordinary and unfathomable mystery. Our limited intellects are una...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2021/05/30/the-holy-trinity-a-scientific-analogy/

This is a magnificent 30 minute overview of the places in Jerusalem in which Our Lord spent His last hours.  Please share with your families and others who would benefit from it. It is beautiful...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2021/04/03/holy-triduum-a-video-pilgrimage-to-jerusalem/

Jesus Christ Our Lord and Redeemer silently hangs in agony on the Cross. His bloody arms stretched wide as if to embrace us. We safely stand at a distance. We are mute and deafened by sounds that...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2021/04/02/christs-embrace-good-friday-easter-2021/

What is the man-in-the-street’s perception of  St. Francis of Assisi? Is it one  that is only shaped by the art that portrays him as soft and sweet, as just the saint of ecology and cuddly an...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2021/03/04/st-francis-of-assisi-a-nice-man-or-a-soldier-of-christ/

I posted the video below many years ago. It is one of the most spectacular and very short nature films that I have ever seen (see credits below). Hopefully, in this time of sickness, confusion, a...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2021/02/03/starlings-and-some-stress-release/

  Today, February 2nd, we celebrate the holy day of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple of Jerusalem. St. Joseph and Our Blessed Mother Mary, as devout Jews, realized the injunction of Mosa...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2021/02/02/candlemas-the-presentation-of-christ-in-the-temple/

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 ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/12/15/vatican-creche-2020-a-contemptuous-insult/

This list is not a typical statement for my blog owing to the fact that it normally concerns sacred art and catechesis; however, I felt I needed to compose and share my thoughts with you. The vie...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/11/01/national-suicide/

Today the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the Memorial of our Guardian Angels. In the second reading from the Office of Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (pg. 1454, Book IV), there is a sect...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/10/02/guardian-angels/

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (of Lisieux) died, a victim of tuberculosis, at the age of 24 on September 30, 1897. Every year her Memorial is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church on October...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/09/30/st-therese-of-lisieux-the-little-way-to-jesus-christ/

A subscriber recently asked me about the process of the movement of sacred art from a local church or cathedral into a secular or religiously affiliated museum and is there a specific “Rite” ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/09/29/sacred-art-its-fate-when-a-catholic-church-closes-its-doors/

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Lawrence, a deacon and third century martyr. St. Lawrence was one of the seven deacons of Rome who served as the Pope’s ministers during Holy Mass and as his...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/08/10/st-lawrence-deacon-and-martyr/

What is our strategic plan in the Holy War to save our personal faith? The overall plan is simple: it is to win the war for our soul. Our tactics are paramount. For they must be in sync with the ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/07/30/holy-war-the-battle-for-our-souls-and-the-soul-of-the-church/

 Sacred Scripture has always celebrated the beauty and significance of the mountain in Israel called Carmel. It is significant for two reasons: In a dramatic contest with the priests of the paga...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/07/19/elijah-pagans-and-our-lady-of-mt-carmel/

This post was previously published in 2012; however I desired to rewrite and republish it because of the crisis the Chinese Catholic Church, that is loyal to Rome, is experiencing this day. The C...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/07/09/chinese-martyrs-and-the-beautiful-art-of-ken-jan-woo-2/

Artistic images of the Blessed Mother of Jesus, as portrayed by different cultures within historical periods, have been part of world history for centuries. Below are a few examples of these ima...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/07/07/the-virgin-mary-artistic-diversity-and-race/

In the June 22, 2020 issue of Newsweek an on-line article by Aila Slisco reported some statements by political activist Mr. Shaun King.  She states: “He also remarked that stained glass windo...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/07/01/mr-shaun-king-and-the-new-iconoclasm/

Today, Holy Saturday, is observed by the Western and Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church, and other denominations as the Anastasis (Greek, “resurrection”), or the Harrowing of Hell by Jesus ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/04/11/holy-saturday-easter-2020/

Father, by the merits of your Son’s passion, death, and resurrection  hear us in our troubles and fears. Strengthen us against anxiety and illness. This day allow us to join Jesus’ sufferin...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/04/10/good-friday-2020/

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 Galilee called ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2020/03/25/virgin-mary-trust-and-obedience-in-the-lord/

by Deacon Paul O. Iacono, Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island USA The author of the interesting and challenging blog site on sacred art and its analysis called Catchlight sent me two questions ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/10/15/do-pagans-go-to-heaven-or-hell/

October 13, 2019 commemorates the last message in the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary by three Portuguese children. The children’s ages were six through nine, and they lived in the town ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/10/12/fatima-messages-pagans-in-the-vatican-and-the-end-times/

We celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary. In her honor let us review some the Church’s truths; dogmas which progressed to the point of Venerable Pope Pius XII proclaiming the meanin...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/08/15/the-assumption-of-our-mother-mary-we-venerate-her-today/

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 “...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/05/02/berninis-bronze-sculpture-of-four-giants-of-the-church/

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 talent...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/04/17/sacred-icons-and-sacred-images-the-nicene-debate-continues/

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...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/04/16/st-athanasius-and-st-spyridon-a-correction-and-another-interpretation-lets-take-a-closer-look/

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 ver...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/04/15/st-athanasius-coptic-and-eastern-orthodox-icons/

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,...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/04/13/saint-nicholas-slaps-a-heretic-a-reflection-appropriate-for-palm-sunday/

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 perceptively only when we p...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/03/31/luke-15-1-3-11-32-the-prodigal-which-brother-are-we/

Is communication just a trait of human beings? Is it a trait of God? The Dogma of the Holy Trinity is one of the great Mysteries of the Christian Faith.  All Christians acknowledge and accept t...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/03/27/the-holy-trinity-communication-through-word-and-art/

“God of all compassion, Father of all goodness, to heal the wounds our sins and selfishness bring upon us You bid us turn to fasting, prayer, and sharing with our brothers and sisters. We ackno...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/03/24/god-is-a-god-of-compassion/

This passage from the Gospel of St. Luke is a parable about a destitute man named Lazarus and a rich man, who at times is called by the name Dives (the word dives in the Latin Bible refers to a�...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/03/21/luke-16-19-31-is-lazarus-in-your-house/

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 at all during those days, ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/03/10/christ-in-the-wilderness-lent-the-season-of-preparation-luke-4-1-2/

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 as the Ant...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/03/06/apologists-additional-saints-prior-to-the-council-of-nicaea/

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 correct in the w...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/03/01/icons-important-similarities-differences/

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...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/02/23/christian-witness-and-sacred-art-the-early-church-fathers-part-7/

Okay, we have reached Wednesday, the supposed day that if we can just get through it we will be on the downward slide toward the weekend. In an attempt to put a little pick-me-up in your afternoo...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/02/20/music-to-perk-you-up/

I mentioned in my last post of February 3, 2019 that I am presenting some material on the early Church Teachers and “Fathers.” Why is this necessary? People studying and painting sacred image...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/02/08/early-church-fathers-a-short-bibliography/

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 as the age of the Apostoli...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/02/02/the-apostolic-fathers-in-roman-catholic-sacred-art-part-six/

“And only where God is seen does life truly begin. Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us i...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/01/22/roman-catholic-sacred-art-a-prayer-to-accompany-the-first-theological-theme/

In the past four posts I briefly reviewed the following topics: Part 1: What is Art, Part 2: Roman Catholic Sacred Art – Categories, Part 3: Roman Catholic Sacred Art – Painting Schematic, an...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/01/19/roman-catholic-sacred-art-part-five-the-first-theological-theme/

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 – the Baptism o...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2019/01/11/the-three-major-stages-of-roman-catholic-sacred-art/

  This is an easier way to view the material within yesterday’s post.   Copyright © 2011- 2018 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/12/07/art-schematic-of-church-painting/

Tonight we will use yesterday’s post as a starting point to examine Roman Catholic painting. I mentioned that there are seven disciplines within the definition of Art. One of those disciplines ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/12/06/categories-of-catholic-sacred-art/

Hello!  Glad to be back after a series of learning experiences which took me away from the keyboard. I see from the website’s analytics that we are still popular on a worldwide level (thank yo...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/12/05/what-is-art/

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 need to go to the Me...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/06/16/st-josephs-art-workshop-lesson-4-applying-color-and-modeling-the-face/

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...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/06/12/fra-angelicos-four-reliquaries-for-the-church-of-santa-maria-novella-part-4-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 th...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/05/27/fra-angelico-and-the-armadio-degli-argenti-part-3-of-the-heaven-on-earth-exhibition/

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: P...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/05/22/st-josephs-art-workshop-lesson-3-applying-pigment/

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 introduction to the Isabella S...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/05/20/fra-angelico-heaven-on-earth-exhibition-part-2-ascension-pentecost-the-last-judgement/

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 reliquar...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/05/16/fra-angelico-the-heaven-on-earth-exhibition-part-1/

Today, May 1, is the memorial of St. Joseph the Worker. I chose him to be the patron of St. Joseph’s Art Workshop (found within this site’s Menu Tab at the top of the page) because he is, of ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/05/01/st-joseph-the-worker-and-sacred-artists/

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 image. That new post – LESS...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/04/26/st-joseph-art-workshop-lesson-2-obtaining-drawing-and-applying-the-sacred-image-to-a-panel/

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 the ones you need to purch...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/04/17/st-josephs-art-workshop-part-3-pigments-and-mediums/

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 section at the top of the page. T...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/04/15/st-josephs-art-workshop-part-1-and-2-materials/

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...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/04/02/the-canon-of-a-catholic-sacred-artist/

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 image of ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/03/26/st-josephs-art-workshop-a-resource-for-sacred-artists-and-students/

Yesterday, March 19th, Catholics happily celebrated the Feast of St. Joseph. Today’s post is slightly different from those previous in that it will discuss an Italian pastry in relation to   a...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2018/03/20/zeppole-st-joseph-and-sacred-art/

On this day, September 29th, the Western Rite of the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast Day of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael (the Eastern Rite celebrates it on either November 8th or 21s...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2017/09/29/st-michael-and-the-archangels/

Galatians 1:15-18 relates St. Paul saying: “But when God, who had set me apart from the time when I was in my mother’s womb, called me through His grace and chose to reveal His Son in me, so...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2017/02/03/paul-in-arabia-and-damascus/

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...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2015/02/09/jesus-our-savior-a-sacred-image-in-the-iconographic-tradition/

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 say those ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2015/01/18/the-gospel-of-john-135-42-an-invitation-to-follow-jesus/

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...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/11/07/link-to-the-film-within-the-post-the-sacred-artists-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...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/11/06/the-sacred-artists-cultivation-of-silence/

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 announce that we hav...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/10/01/the-way-of-beauty-on-line-course-and-reimbursement-scholarship-opportunities/

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 Joan O...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/09/22/albert-lapierre-sacred-artist-and-iconographer/

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 His gifts but He also des...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/09/18/discipleship-wisdoms-light-and-the-art-of-charles-bosseron-chambers/

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 Little ...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/07/07/david-clayton-has-another-great-idea-for-catholic-evangelization/

One of the great blessings the Lord has granted me is the privilege of meeting so many wonderful people who are interested in studying and creating sacred art. An example of this is the fine Rhod...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/06/10/lesley-green-a-rhode-island-sacred-artist/

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. Sophi...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/05/27/the-little-oratory-a-beginners-guide-to-praying-in-the-home-a-new-book-by-clayton-and-lawler/

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 very natur...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/05/12/the-black-mass-at-harvard-is-it-a-hate-crime/

It is the evening hour on the first Easter Sunday. Gathered in the upper room the Apostles were in turmoil. They doubt. They fear. They have lost their sense of trust. They believed that Jesus wa...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/04/27/st-thomas-skeptic-cynic-and-repentant-saint/

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 Di...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/04/19/eugene-burnand-and-the-greatest-easter-painting-ever-made-crisis-magazine/

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 int...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/04/13/beautiful-russian-sacred-icons-at-the-new-haven-knights-of-columbus-museum/

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 Gua...

https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2014/04/02/correction-on-medieval-graffiti-post/