
Vincent Van Gogh — Man of Art, Man of Faith
“Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high,” said Van Gogh. “Then life seems almost enchanted after all.”
“Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high,” said Van Gogh. “Then life seems almost enchanted after all.”
Art, music, literature — in a word, beauty — have in the life and history of Catholicism been a great evangelizing force. For a lesson in this we often turn to the lasting masterpieces and legacy of Christendom in Europe. But what about on our own shores: Is there an imprint on the U.S. from American painters, poets and the like who were Catholic? On Register Radio, we explore American artists and Catholicism in the U.S. with Robert Royal, founder and editor in chief of The Catholic Thing. Then we look at the ways the sexual revolution has impacted the professions — particularly education, psychology and medicine — with Jennifer Roback Morse of the Ruth Institute.
The gift of creativity, like the gift of time or the gift of life, is not removed as soon as we use the gift sinfully.
SCRIPTURES & ART: Three artists — Rembrandt van Rijn, James Tissot and John Bridges — imagine the healing of St. Peter’s mother-in-law in different ways.
The Mérode Altarpiece abounds in theological symbolism.
‘I haven’t seen anyone say they feel more Christian because they’ve seen it,’ art historian Elizabeth Lev said of the controversial display.
St. John’s message is not just an historical artifact — it is addressed to you and me.
“Impressionism … is another name for that final skepticism which can find no floor to the universe.” —G. K. Chesterton (The Man Who was Thursday)
And amid the ruins of “progress” it is art, and particularly literature, that has proved the voice of the resistance.
An episode of the old Batman series offers an exposé on the pretentiousness of modern art.
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