06 works, Today, December 27th, is Joseph the Betrothed's day, his story, illustrated #359

Guido Reni, (1575–1642)

St Joseph with Infant Christ in his Arms, c. 1620s 

Oil on canvas

Height: 126 cm (49.6 in); Width: 101 cm (39.7 in)

Hermitage Museum,  Saint Petersburg, Russia

Guido Reni (4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style. Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. When Reni was about twenty years old he migrated to the rising rival studio, named Accademia degli Incamminati (Academy of the "newly embarked", or progressives), led by Lodovico Carracci. He went on to form the nucleus of a prolific and successful school of Bolognese painters who followed Annibale Carracci to Rome. Like many other Bolognese painters, Reni's painting was thematic and eclectic in style. More on Guido Reni

The holy and righteous Joseph the Betrothed, also referred to as Joseph of Nazareth, was the foster-father of Jesus Christ. Not much is known of Joseph except that he was "of the House of David" and lived in the town of Nazareth. His date of death is unknown, though he was still living when Jesus was 12 years old.

Gerard van Honthorst, (1592–1656)

Childhood of Christ, circa 1620

Oil on canvas

Height: 137 cm (53.9 in); Width: 185 cm (72.8 in)

Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Gerard van Honthorst (4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch Golden Age painter who became especially noted for his depiction of artificially lit scenes. Early in his career he visited Rome, where he had great success painting in a style influenced by Caravaggio. Following his return to the Netherlands he became a leading portrait painter. More on Gerard van Honthorst

The canonical gospels clearly that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus, and that Joseph was not his father; yet Joseph's paternity was essential to establish Jesus' Davidic descent. A few centuries later the developing doctrine was that Mary was a virgin not only at the time of the conception and birth of Christ, but throughout her life.

Rosso Fiorentino, (1494–1540)

Betrothal of The Virgin c. 1523

Oil on panel

Height: 325 cm (10.6 ft); Width: 250 cm (98.4 in)

Basilica of Saint Lawrence, Florence, Italy.

Giovanni Battista di Jacopo (8 March 1495 in Gregorian style, or 1494 according to the calculation of times in Florence where the year began on 25 March – 14 November 1540), known as Rosso Fiorentino (meaning "red Florentine" in Italian), or Il Rosso, was an Italian Mannerist painter, in oil and fresco, belonging to the Florentine school.

Born in Florence with the red hair that gave him his nickname, Rosso first trained in the studio of Andrea del Sarto. In late 1523, Rosso moved to Rome, where he was exposed to the works of Michelangelo, Raphael, and other Renaissance artists, resulting in the realignment of his artistic style.

Fleeing Rome after the Sacking of 1527, Rosso eventually went to France where he secured a position at the court of Francis I in 1530, remaining there until his death. Together with Francesco Primaticcio, Rosso was one of the leading artists to work at the Chateau Fontainebleau as part of the "First School of Fontainebleau", spending much of his life there. 

Rosso's reputation, along those of other stylized late Renaissance Florentines, was long out of favour in comparison to other more naturalistic and graceful contemporaries, but has revived considerably in recent decades. That his masterpiece is in a small city, away from the tourist track, was a factor in this, especially before the arrival of photography. His poses are certainly contorted, and his figures often appear haggard and thin, but his work has considerable power. More on Fiorentino Rosso

Joseph was betrothed to the Virgin Mary at the time that Mary conceived Jesus. Luke says that he lived at Nazareth in Galilee. He is called a "just man". He was by trade a carpenter. He is last mentioned in connection with the journey to Jerusalem, when Jesus was twelve years old. It is probable that Joseph died before Jesus entered on his public ministry because only Mary was present at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee, and he is not described at the crucifixion along with Mary. In addition, St. Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus, a duty that would have fallen to St. Joseph had he been alive.

Daniele Crespi, (around 1598/1600 - 1630 Milan)

Dream of St. Joseph, around 1620/1630

Oil on canvas

297 cm × 203 cm

Kunsthistorisches Museum,  Vienna, Austria

Daniele Crespi (1598 – 19 July 1630) was an Italian painter and draughtsman. He is regarded as one of the most original artists working in Milan in the 1620s. He broke away from the exaggerated manner of Lombard Mannerism in favour of an early Baroque style, distinguished by clarity of form and content. A prolific history painter, he was also known for his portraits.

His training is not well documented and he is first recorded in 1619 as working with local painter Guglielmo Caccia on an assignment in a church in Milan.

Crespi was mainly active as painter of religious subjects used as decoration for churches. He was also known for his sensitive portraits. He was an excellent colorist, known for the simplistic beauty of his compositions. His best works include a series of pictures from the life of Saint Bruno (now in the Certosa di Garegnano in Milan) and a depiction of the Stoning of St. Stephen (in Brera).

Another masterpiece is the dark 1628 Supper of St Carlo Borromeo in the church of Santa Maria della Passione in Milan, one of the best-known early 17th-century paintings in northern Italy. Other works by him can be found in Milan and Pavia. More on Daniele Crespi

Following the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, Joseph is told by an angel in a dream to take the family to Egypt to escape the massacre of the children of Bethlehem planned by Herod, the ruler of the Roman province of Judea.

John Everett Millais, (1829–1896)

Christ in the House of His Parents, c. between 1849 and 1850

Oil on canvas

Height: 86.4 cm (34 in); Width: 139.7 cm (55 in)

Tate Britain

Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, (8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator. he was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

 

A child prodigy, at the age of eleven Millais became the youngest student to enter the Royal Academy Schools. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded at his family home in London. Millais became the most famous exponent of the style, his painting Christ in the House of His Parents (1850) generating considerable controversy. By the mid-1850s Millais was moving away from the Pre-Raphaelite style and developing a new and powerful form of realism in his art. His later works were enormously successful, making Millais one of the wealthiest artists of his day. While early 20th-century critics, reading art through the lens of Modernism, viewed much of his later production as wanting, this perspective has changed in recent decades, as his later works have come to be seen in the context of wider changes and advanced tendencies in the broader late-nineteenth-century art world.

 

Millais's personal life has also played a significant role in his reputation. His wife Effie was formerly married to the critic John Ruskin, who had supported Millais's early work. The annulment of the marriage and her wedding to Millais have sometimes been linked to his change of style, but she became a powerful promoter of his work and they worked in concert to secure commissions and expand their social and intellectual circles. More on Sir John Everett Millais

Jesus Christ is described as being the brother of James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and two sisters, Salome and Mary. A tradition at least as early as the second century, still adopted by the Orthodox Church, explains that these "brothers and sisters" were from Joseph's marriage to Salome who left him a widower before he was betrothed to Mary and so making them step-brothers and step-sisters. He was the older brother to Cleopas, who was also married to a woman named Mary.

James Tissot, (French, 1836-1902)

Jesus commended Mary to the care of John the Evangelist

What Our Lord Saw from the Cross, c. 1886-1894

Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray-green wove paper

9 3/4 x 9 1/16 in. (24.8 x 23 cm)

Brooklyn Museum

Jacques Joseph Tissot (15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), Anglicized as James Tissot, was a French painter and illustrator. He was a successful painter of Paris society before moving to London in 1871. He became famous as a genre painter of fashionably dressed women shown in various scenes of everyday life. He also painted scenes and characters from the Bible. More on James Tissot

That Jesus commended Mary to the care of John the Evangelist while he was hanging on the cross has been interpreted to also suggest that Joseph had died by that time, and that Joseph and Mary did not have any other children who might care for Mary. More on Joseph the Betrothed

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, 365 Days, and Biblical Icons, also visit my Boards on Pinterest and my art stores at  deviantart and Aaroko

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09 works, Today, August 15th, is the Dormition of the Virgin Mary day, her story illustrated #227

James Tissot, (1836–1902)

What Our Lord Saw from the Cross, between 1886 and 1894

Gouache over graphite on gray-green wove paper

24.8 × 23 cm (9.7 × 9 in)

Brooklyn Museum

Jacques Joseph Tissot (15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), Anglicized as James Tissot, was a French painter and illustrator. He was a successful painter of Paris society before moving to London in 1871. He became famous as a genre painter of fashionably dressed women shown in various scenes of everyday life. He also painted scenes and characters from the Bible. More on James Tissot

Hanging on the Cross in agony, Jesus remembered His Mother, and indicating the Apostle John He said to her: Woman, behold thy son. After that, He said to John: Behold thy mother. And so, providing for His Mother, He breathed His last. 

John had a home on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, in which the Theotokos then lived. She dwelt there to the end of her days on earth. By her prayers, kind guidance, meekness and patience, she greatly assisted her Son’s apostles. 

Unknown artist

The Theotokos praying at the Mount of Olives, and the trees bowing in honor

I have no further description, at this time

She spent most of her remaining time on earth in Jerusalem, often visiting those places that reminded her of the great events and of the great works of her Son. She especially visited Golgotha, Bethlehem, and the Mount of Olives. Of her few distant journeys, her visit to St. Ignatius the God-bearer in Antioch is recorded; as is her visit to Lazarus (whom Jesus resurrected on the fourth day), who was by then the Bishop of Cyprus. 

Joan mates  (1370–1431)

Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist with Donor, c. 1410

Tempera on panel

Height: 191 cm; Width: 121 cm

Thyssen-Bornemisza museum,  Madrid, Spain

Juan Mates (or Joan Mates ) or master of Peñafiel 1 , born around 1370 in Vilafranca del Penedès and died in 1431 in Barcelona , was a Spanish painter of sacred art .

Mates was active in Barcelona between 1391 and 1431. He is known for the altarpieces of Saint Martin and Saint Ambrose in Barcelona Cathedral, the altarpiece of Saint James in Tarragona Cathedral and the two altarpieces of Saint John. currently divided evangelist.

Originally from Vilafranca del Penedès , he moved to Barcelona in 1390 , in the studio of Pere Serra , with whom he worked for a long time. When his master died, he recovered his orders.

Juan Mates maintained a relationship with high officials of the Church and the Catalan nobility, as well as with patrons . He thus carried out various commissions destined for several places in Aragon and Catalonia .

Mates established an active workshop in which he had as main collaborators his son Bernat Mates and his son-in-law Francesc Oliva between 1425 and 1462. The lack of artistic talent of his son and the precode death of his son-in-law caused the disappearance of the family affair shortly after Juan Mates' death the same year. More on Juan Mates 

She also visited Mouth Athos, which she blessed; and she stayed in Ephesus with St. John the Evangelist during the time of the great persecution of Christians in Jerusalem. 

In her old age, she often prayed to her Lord and God on the Mount of Olives, the site of His Ascension, that He take her from this world as soon as possible. 

El Greco, (1541–1614)

The angel gave her a palm-branch

The Annunciation, between 1595 and 1600

Oil on canvas

Height: 91 cm (35.8 in); Width: 66.5 cm (26.1 in)

Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Doménikos Theotokópoulos (1541 – 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco; Spanish for "The Greek", was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. The nickname "El Greco" refers both to his Greek origin and Spanish citizenship. The artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters.

 

El Greco was born in Crete, which was at that time part of the Republic of Venice, and the center of Post-Byzantine art. He trained and became a master within that tradition before traveling at age 26 to Venice, as other Greek artists had done. In 1570 he moved to Rome, where he opened a workshop and executed a series of works. During his stay in Italy, El Greco enriched his style with elements of Mannerism and of the Venetian Renaissance. In 1577, he moved to Toledo, Spain, where he lived and worked until his death. In Toledo, El Greco received several major commissions and produced his best-known paintings.

 

El Greco's dramatic and expressionistic style was met with puzzlement by his contemporaries but found appreciation in the 20th century. El Greco is regarded as a precursor of both Expressionism and Cubism, while his personality and works were a source of inspiration for poets and writers. El Greco has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school. He is best known for tortuously elongated figures and often fantastic or phantasmagorical pigmentation, marrying Byzantine traditions with those of Western painting. More on El Greco

On one of these occasions, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her and revealed to her that she would find repose within three days. The angel gave her a palm-branch, which was to be carried in her funeral procession. She returned home with great joy, hoping in her heart to see her Son’s apostles just once more in this life. 

The Lord fulfilled her wish, and the apostles, borne by angels in the clouds, gathered together at the house on Mount Zion. With great rejoicing she saw them, encouraged them, counseled them, and comforted them. 

Mestari Francke, (1380–1435)

Dormition of the Mother of God, c. 1410

Central panel of inner wings in Barbara-altar,  Kalanti church in Finland 

Painted oak wood relief 

The National Museum of Finland, Helsinki, Finland

Master Francke O.P. (or Meister Francke, Frater Francke) was a North German Gothic painter and Dominican friar, born ca. 1380 in the Lower Rhine region or possibly Zutphen in the Netherlands, who died ca. 1440, probably in Hamburg, where he was based at the end of his known career. He may have trained as an illuminator and painter in France or the Netherlands, and later worked in Münster, before joining in St John's Priory in Hamburg by 1424 at the latest.

Francke was almost forgotten as an artist after the Renaissance , until Alfred Lichtwark, director of the Hamburg Art Gallery, brought him back into public consciousness, as did Master Bertram.

Two main altarpieces attributed to him survive, dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury and Saint Barbara, in an unusually intense style, showing awareness of French and Early Netherlandish court art. More on Master Francke 

Then she peacefully gave her soul to God without pain or physical illness. The apostles took up her coffin, from which a heavenly fragrance arose – and, in the company of many Christians, bore it to the Garden of Gethsemane, to the sepulcher of her parents, Saints Joachim and Anna. 

Unknown artist

Jewish Priest Athonios grabbed the coffin

I have no further description, at this time

Unknown artist

An angel of God severed both of Athonios' his hands

I have no further description, at this time

By God’s providence, the procession was concealed by a cloud from the Jews. Even so, Aphthonius, a Jewish priest, grabbed the coffin with the intention of overturning it, but an angel of God severed both his hands. He then cried out to the apostles for help, and was healed upon declaring his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Unknown artist

Ascension of the body of the Virgin Mary

When the apostles opened the sepulcher, they found only the winding sheet

I have no further description, at this time

The Apostle Thomas was absent – again, who was preaching in India. He is said to have arrived in a cloud above her tomb exactly three days after her death, and to have seen her body leaving to heaven. Thomas desired to venerate the body of the Holy Most-pure One. But when the apostles opened the sepulcher, they found only the winding sheet: the body was not in the tomb! 

Diego Velázquez, (1599–1660)

Coronation of the Virgin, between 1635 and 1636 

Oil and canvas

Height: 178.5 cm (70.2 in); Width: 134.5 cm (52.9 in)

Museo del Prado, Madrid

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599 – August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV, and one of the most important painters of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period. In addition to numerous renditions of scenes of historical and cultural significance, he painted scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family, other notable European figures, and commoners, culminating in the production of his masterpiece Las Meninas (1656).

 

From the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Velázquez's artwork was a model for the realist and impressionist painters, in particular Édouard Manet. Since that time, famous modern artists, including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Francis Bacon, have paid tribute to Velázquez by recreating several of his most famous works. More on Diego Velázquez

That evening, the Theotokos, surrounded by a host of angels, appeared to the apostles and said to them: “Rejoice, I will be with you always.” The Theotokos’ age at the time of her Dormition is not known exactly, but the overwhelming opinion is that she was over sixty years of age. More on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary

The Dormition tradition is associated with various places, most notably with Jerusalem, which contains Mary's Tomb and the Basilica of the Dormition, and Ephesus, which contains the House of the Virgin Mary, and also with Constantinople where the Cincture of the Theotokos was enshrined from the 5th through 14th centuries. 

The feast of the Dormition was being observed in Jerusalem shortly after the Council of Ephesus.

The earliest Dormition traditions surface in manuscripts at some point in the late 5th century, when three distinct narrative traditions describing the end of Mary's life suddenly appear.

Emperor Maurice (582–602) issued an edict which set the date for the celebration of the Dormition on August 15.

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, and 365 Saints, 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.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

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

05 Works, Today, June 19th, is Mary mother of James's day, her story in Paintings #170

Lucas Cranach the Elder

Mary Cleophas and Alphaeus, with two of their sons, c. 1509

Mixed technique on limewood

120.0 x 43.5 x min. 0.7 cm

THE STÄDEL MUSEUM

Lucas Cranach the Elder (c. 1472 – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German princes and those of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, whose cause he embraced with enthusiasm, becoming a close friend of Martin Luther. He also painted religious subjects, first in the Catholic tradition, and later trying to find new ways of conveying Lutheran religious concerns in art. He continued throughout his career to paint nude subjects drawn from mythology and religion. He had a large workshop and many works exist in different versions; his son Lucas Cranach the Younger, and others, continued to create versions of his father's works for decades after his death. Lucas Cranach the Elder has been considered the most successful German artist of his time. More Lucas Cranach the Elder

Mary was one of a group of women who kept track of Jesus’ travels and ministered to His needs whenever they could. The women provided food, shelter, laundering, and even money so that Jesus and the disciples could travel freely preaching the Gospel. 

James Tissot, (1836–1902)

What Our Lord Saw from the Cross, between 1886 and 1894

Gouache over graphite on gray-green wove paper

24.8 × 23 cm (9.7 × 9 in)

Brooklyn Museum

Jacques Joseph Tissot (15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), Anglicized as James Tissot, was a French painter and illustrator. He was a successful painter of Paris society before moving to London in 1871. He became famous as a genre painter of fashionably dressed women shown in various scenes of everyday life. He also painted scenes and characters from the Bible. More on James Tissot

There are six famous Mary’s in the New Testament. It was a popular name mentioned fifty-one times in the New Testament. In the Gospels there are Mary, the mother of Jesus; Mary of Bethany; Mary Magdalene; and Mary the mother of James and Joseph. In the book of Acts there is Mary the mother of John Mark, and there is Mary of Rome.

There is some speculation as to whether or not Mary mother of James, and the wife of Clopas, was also Jesus’ aunt.

Unknown artist, Russian Orthodox icon

7 Women at the grave, c. 17th - early 19th 

The White Angel with its wings raised sits on a stone, blocking the entrance to the cave, near the empty tomb, where the shroud of Christ lies.

Before the angel there are seven wives of chamomiles with vessels in their hands in peace: first row: Martha from Bethany (Mary's sister); Virgin Mary; Mary (Martha's sister); Salomia

top row: Maria (other), Susanna, Anna.

Above in the valley between the mountains, the risen Christ against the backdrop of Mount Jerusalem (the city in the upper right) talks with Mary Magdalene.

She was present at the Crucifixion and afterwards went with Salomé and Mary Magdalene to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body with spices. Being greeted by an angel who announced the Resurrection, they returned to tell the apostles of what they had learned.

Baciccio, (b. 1639, Genova, d. 1709, Roma)

The Three Maries at the Empty Sepulchre, c. 1684-85

Oil on canvas

87 x 113 cm

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Giovanni Battista Gaulli (8 May 1639 – 2 April 1709), also known as Baciccio, was an Italian artist working in the High Baroque and early Rococo periods. He is best known for his grand illusionistic vault frescos in the Church of the Gesù in Rome, Italy. His work was influenced by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Gaulli was born in Genoa, and initially apprenticed with Luciano Borzone. In mid-17th century. Gaulli's Genoa was a cosmopolitan Italian artistic center open to both commercial and artistic enterprises from north European countries. Gaulli's earliest influences would have come from an eclectic mix of these foreign painters and other local artists whose warm palette Gaulli adopted. In the 1660s, he experimented with the cooler palette and linear style of Bolognese classicism.

He first introduced him to Gianlorenzo Bernini in Rome, who promoted him. He found patrons among the Genoese, and was accepted into the Roman artists' guild, where he was to later hold several offices. The next year, he received his first public commission for an altarpiece, in the church of San Rocco, Rome. He received many private commissions for mythological and religious works.

At his height, Gaulli was one of Rome's most esteemed portrait painters. Gaulli died in Rome, shortly after 26 March 1709, probably 2 April. More on Giovanni Battista Gaulli

During the early persecution of Christians around 40 AD, the “three Maries,” were expelled from Jerusalem. They were placed, together with Lazarus, Martha, Maximin and Sidon, on a boat without oars or supplies. Sarah, their servant, was left behind, but Salomé threw her coat onto the waters and the coat became a raft, allowing Sarah to board. The boat eventually landed near Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in present-day France.

Unknown artist

 The two Marys arriving on a stormy day, with Sarah waiting for them

Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

The three Maries settled in Camargue, where they taught the good news of Christ. They peacefully gave up their souls to the Lord, and their grave became a popular place of pilgrimage. 

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, and 365 Saints, 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.

 If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

 Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

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

05 Works, Today, April 28th, is Saint Theodora of Alexandria's day, With Footnotes - #118

Unknown artist
St. Theodora of Alexandria
Museo del Prado

St. Theodora of Alexandria and her husband lived in Alexandria. Love and harmony ruled in their family. A certain rich man was captivated by the youthful beauty of Theodora and attempted to lead her into adultery, but was initially unsuccessful. He then bribed a woman of loose morals, who led the unassuming Theodora astray by saying that a secret sin, which the sun does not see, is also unknown to God.

Theodora betrayed her husband, but soon came to her senses and realizing the seriousness of her fall, she became furious with herself, slapping herself on the face and tearing at her hair. 

Francisco de Zurbarán, (1598–1664)

Desert Mothers

St. Hieronymus with St. Paula Romana and her daughter, St. Eustochium , c. from 1638 until 1640

Oil on canvas

Height: 247 cm (97.2 in); Width: 174 cm (68.5 in)

National Gallery of Art 

Francisco de Zurbarán (baptized November 7, 1598 – August 27, 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname Spanish Caravaggio, owing to the forceful, realistic use of chiaroscuro in which he excelled. More on Francisco de Zurbarán

Her conscience gave her no peace, and she went to a renowned abbess and confessed her transgression. Seeing the young woman’s repentance, the abbess spoke to her of God's forgiveness and reminded her of the sinful woman in the Gospel who washed the feet of Christ with her tears and received from Him forgiveness. 

James Tissot, (1836–1902)

The Ointment of the Magdalene, between 1886 and 1894

Gouache over graphite on gray wove paper

Height: 22.2 cm (8.7 in); Width: 27.8 cm (10.9 in)

Brooklyn Museum 

Jacques Joseph Tissot (15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), Anglicized as James Tissot, was a French painter and illustrator. He was a successful painter of Paris society before moving to London in 1871. He became famous as a genre painter of fashionably dressed women shown in various scenes of everyday life. He also painted scenes and characters from the Bible. More on James Tissot

St. Theodora resolved to go off to a monastery to purify herself by labor and by prayer. She left her home secretly, and dressing herself in men's clothes, she went to a men's monastery, since she feared that her husband would find her in a community of women.

Theodora of Alexandria

Miniature Minology of Basil II. Constantinople, c. 985

Vatican Library. Rome

In order to test the newcomer, the monastery’s abbot would not permit her to enter. St. Theodora spent the night at the gates. In the morning, she fell down at the knees of the abbot telling him her name was Theodore from Alexandria, and entreated him to let her remain at the monastery for repentance and monastic labors. Seeing the sincere intent of the newcomer, the abbot consented. Even the experienced monks were amazed at Theodora's all-night prayers on bended knee, her humility, endurance and self-denial. The saint labored at the monastery for eight years. Her body, once defiled by adultery, now became a vessel of the grace of God and a receptacle of the Holy Spirit.

While on a journey to buy provisions, Theodora was instructed by her abbot to stay at the Enata Monastery if there was cause for delay. There was also a young woman staying at the guest house of this same monastery. She tried to seduce St. Theodora, not realizing the monk before her was a woman. Discouraged that she had been rejected, the girl undertook a liaison with another guest and became pregnant. Ultimately, the father of this shameless girl began to question his daughter about the father of the child. The girl told him the father was the Monk Theodore, which was immediately reported to the abbot of St. Theodora’s monastery. Upon being confronted, St. Theodora replied, "As God is my witness, I did not do this." Knowing of Theodore's purity and holiness of life, the abbot did not believe the accusation. 

When the infant was born, the monks brought the infant to the monastery where St. Theodora lived and reproached all of their monastics for leading an unchaste life. The abbot became angry at the innocent Theodore and entrusted the infant into the care of the saint, throwing her out of the monastery in disgrace. The saint humbly submitted to this new trial, seeing in it the expiation of her former sin. She settled with the child not far from the monastery in a hut. Shepherds, out of pity, gave her milk for the infant, and the saint herself ate only wild vegetables.

Bearing her misfortune, St. Theodora spent seven years in banishment. Finally, at the request of the monks, the abbot allowed her to return to the monastery with the infant, and in seclusion she spent two years instructing the child. The abbot of the monastery received a revelation from God that the sin of the monk Theodore was forgiven. The grace of God dwelt upon the monk Theodore, and soon all the monks began to witness the signs worked through the prayers of the saint.

Before her death, St Theodora shut herself in her cell with the child and instructed him to love God above all things.. After this, she prayed and, for the last time, she asked the Lord to forgive her sins. The child also prayed together with her. Soon the words of prayer faded from the lips of St. Theodora, and she peacefully departed to a better world.

The Lord revealed to the abbot the spiritual accomplishments of the saint, and also her secret. The abbot, in order to remove any dishonor told of his vision and uncovered the bosom of the saint as proof. The monastics shrank back in terror. Falling down before the body of the saint, with tears they asked forgiveness of St. Theodora. News of St. Theodora’s death reached her former husband, and he received monastic tonsure at this same monastery where his wife had lived. The child also followed in the footsteps of his foster-mother. Afterwards, he became abbot of this very monastery. More on St. Theodora of Alexandria

The Only Orthodox Church Dedicated to Saint Theodora of Alexandria

Pieria, Macedonia, Greece

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