01 Work, CONTEMPORARY Interpretation of the Bible! After Leonardo da Vinci, Jesus Christ Helping His Mother, with footnotes #62

After Leonardo da Vinci

Jesus Christ Helping His Mother, with Mary Magdalen

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Leonardo da Vinci uses a wide canvas, allowing for a panoramic view that captures both the intimate setting of the workshop and the distant cityscape. There is tension and unease to the scene, highlighting the volatile times in which the Holy Family lived.

Every element of the painting is rendered with meticulous attention to detail. The texture of the wood in Joseph's carpentry tools, the delicate threads in Mary's work, and the ruggedness of the city in the distance are all portrayed with precision and clarity.

Christ is depicted as helping his mother Mary with her work, symbolizing the connection between their earthly duties and their divine mission. Mary Magdalene, positioned behind, gazes in with a mix of awe and concern, reflecting the weight of the challenges that the Holy Family faced.

The inclusion of the old city of Jerusalem in the distance serves as a reminder of the external struggles and conflicts that often overshadowed the lives of the Holy Family. It symbolizes the broader historical context and the societal backdrop against which their story unfolds.

In this realistic painting, the artist aims to capture not only the tender moments of family and faith but also the harsh realities of the world in which they lived. Through the use of high-resolution imagery and a photorealistic style, the artwork immerses viewers in the scene and brings to life the tumultuous nature of the era.

Leonardo da Vinci, (born April 15, 1452, Anchiano, near Vinci, Republic of Florence — died May 2, 1519, Cloux, France), Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. His Last Supper (1495–98) and Mona Lisa (c. 1503–19) are among the most widely popular and influential paintings of the Renaissance. His notebooks reveal a spirit of scientific inquiry and a mechanical inventiveness that were centuries ahead of their time.

The unique fame that Leonardo enjoyed in his lifetime and that, filtered by historical criticism, has remained undimmed to the present day rests largely on his unlimited desire for knowledge, which guided all his thinking and behaviour. An artist by disposition and endowment, he considered his eyes to be his main avenue to knowledge; to Leonardo, sight was man’s highest sense because it alone conveyed the facts of experience immediately, correctly, and with certainty. Hence, every phenomenon perceived became an object of knowledge, and knowing how to see became the great theme of his studies. He applied his creativity to every realm in which graphic representation is used: he was a painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer. But he went even beyond that. He used his superb intellect, unusual powers of observation, and mastery of the art of drawing to study nature itself, a line of inquiry that allowed his dual pursuits of art and science to flourish. More Leonardo da Vinci

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01 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation the bible, With Footnotes - 117

After Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

MARY MAGDALEN IN ECSTASY

Oil on canvas

 95 x 75 cm.; 37 3/8 x 29 1/2 in.

Private collection

In his representation of the saint, Caravaggio has stripped away her traditional symbols such as the skull and the hourglass, and tells her story as a triad of intensely emotive contrasts: red, white and black. More on this painting

According to a legend popular in Caravaggio's time, after Christ's death his faithful female disciple Mary of Magdala moved to southern France, where she lived as a hermit in a cave at Sainte-Baume near Aix-en-Provence. There she was transported seven times a day by angels into the presence of God, "where she heard, with her bodily ears, the delightful harmonies of the celestial choirs." More on this painting

Mary Magdalene was a Jewish woman who, according to texts included in the New Testament, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers. She is said to have witnessed Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Based on texts of the early Christian era in the third century, it seems that her status as an “apostle" rivals even Peter's.

She is most prominent in the narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus, at which she was present. She was also present two days later, either alone or as a member of a group of women, the first to testify to the resurrection of Jesus.

Ideas that go beyond the gospel presentation of Mary Magdalene as a prominent representative of the women who followed Jesus have been put forward over the centuries.

During the Middle Ages, Mary Magdalene was regarded in Western Christianity as a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman, claims not found in any of the four canonical gospels. More Mary Magdalene

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (29 September 1571 in Caravaggio – 18 July 1610) was an Italian painter active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1592 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on Baroque painting.

Caravaggio trained as a painter in Milan under Simone Peterzano who had himself trained under Titian. In his twenties Caravaggio moved to Rome where there was a demand for paintings to fill the many huge new churches and palazzos being built at the time. It was also a period when the Church was searching for a stylistic alternative to Mannerism in religious. Caravaggio's innovation was a radical naturalism that combined close physical observation with a dramatic use of chiaroscuro which came to be known as tenebrism (the shift from light to dark with little intermediate value).

He gained attention in the art scene of Rome in 1600 with the success of his first public commissions, the Martyrdom of Saint Matthew and Calling of Saint Matthew. Thereafter he never lacked commissions or patrons, yet he handled his success poorly. He was jailed on several occasions, vandalized his own apartment, and ultimately had a death sentence pronounced against him by the Pope after killing a young man, possibly unintentionally, on May 29, 1606. He fled from Rome with a price on his head. He was involved in a brawl in Malta in 1608, and another in Naples in 1609. This encounter left him severely injured. A year later, at the age of 38, he died under mysterious circumstances in Porto Ercole in Tuscany, reportedly from a fever while on his way to Rome to receive a pardon.

Famous while he lived, Caravaggio was forgotten almost immediately after his death, and it was only in the 20th century that his importance to the development of Western art was rediscovered. More on Caravaggio

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, And visit my Boards on Pinterest

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I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

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01 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation the bible, With Footnotes - 118

Neapolitan School, 18th Century

THE PENITENT MAGDALEN

Oil on canvas

78.5 x 68.2 cm.; 30 7/8 x 26 3/4 in.

Private collection

Penitent Magdalen refers to a post-biblical period in the life of Mary Magdalen.

This 'Magdalen' bears the hallmarks of Neapolitan painting during that period. The dramatic expression, emphatic naturalism, and intense chiaroscuro derive from the profound influence of Caravaggio (1571–1610), who spent a number of his later years in the port city. More on this painting

The sacrament of Penance had important significance in Counter-Reformation spirituality, and artists frequently portrayed penitent saints as exemplars of religious fervor. Such works were meant to inspire a greater devotion. On the other hand, the popularity of The Magdalene as a subject is also associated with her implied sexuality. Her passive gaze and partially naked body appealed to male viewers, for whom such paintings offered a moralizing context through which to engage with the sensuality of the female form. The Penitent Magdalene

Mary Magdalene was a Jewish woman who, according to texts included in the New Testament, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers. She is said to have witnessed Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Based on texts of the early Christian era in the third century, it seems that her status as an “apostle" rivals even Peter's.

She is most prominent in the narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus, at which she was present. She was also present two days later, either alone or as a member of a group of women, the first to testify to the resurrection of Jesus.

Ideas that go beyond the gospel presentation of Mary Magdalene as a prominent representative of the women who followed Jesus have been put forward over the centuries.

During the Middle Ages, Mary Magdalene was regarded in Western Christianity as a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman, claims not found in any of the four canonical gospels. More Mary Magdalene

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (29 September 1571 in Caravaggio – 18 July 1610) was an Italian painter active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1592 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on Baroque painting.

Caravaggio trained as a painter in Milan under Simone Peterzano who had himself trained under Titian. In his twenties Caravaggio moved to Rome where there was a demand for paintings to fill the many huge new churches and palazzos being built at the time. It was also a period when the Church was searching for a stylistic alternative to Mannerism in religious. Caravaggio's innovation was a radical naturalism that combined close physical observation with a dramatic use of chiaroscuro which came to be known as tenebrism (the shift from light to dark with little intermediate value).

He gained attention in the art scene of Rome in 1600 with the success of his first public commissions, the Martyrdom of Saint Matthew and Calling of Saint Matthew. Thereafter he never lacked commissions or patrons, yet he handled his success poorly. He was jailed on several occasions, vandalized his own apartment, and ultimately had a death sentence pronounced against him by the Pope after killing a young man, possibly unintentionally, on May 29, 1606. He fled from Rome with a price on his head. He was involved in a brawl in Malta in 1608, and another in Naples in 1609. This encounter left him severely injured. A year later, at the age of 38, he died under mysterious circumstances in Porto Ercole in Tuscany, reportedly from a fever while on his way to Rome to receive a pardon.

Famous while he lived, Caravaggio was forgotten almost immediately after his death, and it was only in the 20th century that his importance to the development of Western art was rediscovered. More on Caravaggio

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, And visit my Boards on Pinterest

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I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

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01 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretation the bible, Andrea Solari's Mary Magdalen, with Footnotes - 114

Andrea Solari,  (1460–1524)

Mary Magdalen, circa 1524

Oil on panel

DH: 29 3/4 x W: 23 5/16 x Approx. D: 1 in. (75.5 x 59.2 x 2.5 cm)

Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland

Mary Magdalene went to anoint Christ's dead body, only to discover that he was resurrected. She is shown here transferring the ointment from a maiolica pharmacy jar to a smaller vessel. 

According to Church, Mary Magdalene was a sinful woman, who upon meeting Christ repented her former ways. She was present at the Crucifixion and later went to anoint Christ's dead body, only to discover that he was resurrected. As in this painting, the Magdalene is often depicted as a great beauty with long golden hair. She is shown here transferring the ointment from a maiolica pharmacy jar to a smaller vessel. The artist has represented the Magdalene in a style influenced by the works of Leonardo da Vinci, particularly in the subtle "sfumato" technique that invisibly blends light and shade and make contours appear soft. More on this painting

Andrea Solari (also Solario) (1460–1524) was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Milanese school. He was initially named Andre del Gobbo, but more confusingly as Andrea del Bartolo a name shared with two other Italian painters, the 14th Century Siennese Andrea di Bartolo, and the 15th Century Florentine Andrea di Bartolo.

His paintings can be seen in Venice, Milan, The Louvre and the Château de Gaillon (Normandie, France). One of his better-known paintings is the Virgin of the Green Cushion (c. 1507) in the Louvre

Solario was one of the most important followers of Leonardo da Vinci, and brother of Cristoforo Solari, who gave him his first training. In 1490 he accompanied his brother to Venice, where he seems to have been strongly influenced by Antonello da Messina, who was then active in the city. The two brothers returned to Milan in 1493. The Ecce Homo at the Poldi-Pezzoli Museum, notable for its strong modelling, may have been painted soon after his arrival.

In 1507 Andrea Solari went to France with letters of introduction to the Cardinal of Amboise, and was employed for two years on frescoes in the chapel of his castle of Gaillon in Normandy.


Andrea's last work was an altarpiece representing The Assumption of the Virgin, left unfinished at his death and completed by Bernardino Campi about 1576. More on Andrea Solari 

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints and 365 Days, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

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Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.

05 Paintings, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretations of the Bible! by The Old Masters, With Footnotes # 64

Peter Paul Rubens

 Jesus at the banquet of Simon the Pharisee

Oil on canvas

158 x 227 cm

Private collection

Simon was a Pharisee mentioned in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 7:36-50) as the host of a meal, who invited Jesus to eat in his house but failed to show him the usual marks of hospitality offered to visitors - a greeting kiss, water to wash his feet, or oil for his head .


During the meal, a tearful woman identified as a sinner anointed Jesus' feet. He contrasted her faith and care with Simon's failure to show common decency, and accused him of being forgiven little and (in consequence) loving little. More on Simon the Pharisee

Sir Peter Paul Rubens (28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish Baroque painter. A proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, Rubens is well known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.

In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England.  More Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Paul Gauguin (1848–1903)

Christ on the Mount of Olives, c. 1889

Oil on canvas

73 × 92 cm (28.7 × 36.2 in)

Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida

Luke 22:39-44: Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,  “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 

Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French post-Impressionist artist. Underappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of color and Synthetist style that were distinctly different from Impressionism. His work was influential to the French avant-garde and many modern artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Gauguin's art became popular after his death.

He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer. His bold experimentation with color led directly to the Synthetist style of modern art, while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects in his paintings, under the influence of the cloisonnist style, paved the way to Primitivism and the return to the pastoral. He was also an influential proponent of wood engraving and woodcuts as art forms. More on Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin

Leandro da Ponte, called Leandro Bassano (Bassano 1557-1622 Venice)

The Queen of Sheba before King Solomon 

Oil on copper

52.9 x 40.1cm (20 13/16 x 15 13/16in).

Private collection

The Queen of Sheba is a Biblical figure. The tale of her visit to King Solomon has undergone extensive Jewish, Arabian and Ethiopian elaborations, and has become the subject of one of the most widespread and fertile cycles of legends in the Orient.

The queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem "with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones"). "Never again came such an abundance of spices" as those which she gave to Solomon. She came "to prove him with hard questions", all of which Solomon answered to her satisfaction. They exchanged gifts, after which she returned to her land. More on The Queen of Sheba

Leandro Bassano (June 10, 1557 – April 15, 1622), also called Leandro dal Ponte, was an Italian artist from Bassano del Grappa. Leandro studied with his brother in their father's workshop, but took over the studio when Francesco opened a workshop in Venice. Leandro followed in the tradition of his father’s religious works, but also became well known as a portrait painter.

By around 1575, Leandro had become an important assistant to his father, with his brother relocated to Venice. It was his father’s will that Leandro carry on the studio in Bassano del Grappa. Though after his father died, his brother Francesco committed suicide and Leandro took up the studio in Venice. There he became a successful portraitist, working close to the influential style of the Venetian master, Tintoretto.

His success grew substantially in Venice, even landing him a knighthood from the Doge of Venice Marino Grimani in 1595 about, and he spent the rest of his life in the city. With this, Leandro began to sign his name with the honorary, “Eques.”  More on Leandro Bassano

Gaspar de Crayer, (Antwerp 1584-1669 Ghent)

The Penitent Magdalen 

Oil on canvas

91.8 x 71.1cm (36 1/8 x 28in)

Private collection

A sinner, perhaps a courtesan, Mary Magdalen was a witness of Christ who renounced the pleasures of the flesh for a life of penance and contemplation. Penitent Magdalene or Penitent Magdalen refers to a post-biblical period in the life of Mary Magdalene, according to medieval legend. 

According to the tenets of the 17th–century Catholic church, Mary Magdalene was an example of the repentant sinner and consequently a symbol of the Sacrament of Penance. According to legend, Mary led a dissolute life until her sister Martha persuaded her to listen to Jesus Christ. She became one of Christ's most devoted followers and he absolved her of her former sins. More on The Penitent Magdalen 

Gaspard de Crayer (1584-1669) was a Flemish painter born in Antwerp and worked in the region, as well as in the Netherlands and in Spain. The artist who is famous for his sacral paintings, his oeuvre contains hundreds of altarpieces painted only rarely profane subjects, such as the lifesize portrait of Philipp IV. king of Spain in the 17th century. Gaspard de Crayer began his education attending the school of Raphael van Coxcie. He was guided by the works of the masters of the Italian Renaissance as well as by those of his contemporary and compatriot Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). Later the artist became painter at the court of Philipp IV. De Crayer, joining the important church painters of his time and created a lot of major works of the Counterreformation. More on Gaspar de Crayer

Massimo Stanzione, (1585 - 1656)

Madonna with Child, c. 1645
Oil on canvas
104 x 78 cm
Private collection

Massimo Stanzione (ca. 1586 – ca. 1656) was one of the leading painters in Naples in the 17th century, producing numerous altarpieces and frescoes. His rich colours and idealised naturalism influenced a great number of students and imitators. This is a copy of a large altarpiece that he painted for the Carthusian monks in the church of Certosa di S. Martino in Naples: Stanzione included Carthusian monks mourning the dead Christ. This copy may date from the 18th century. More on Massimo Stanzione

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