THE EUCHARIST IN ART: VISUALIZING MYSTERY

April 10, 2021

The 17th century Catholic Church found itself engaged in a battle over the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. Most Protestant Reformers rejected the teaching of Transubstantiation, while an increasingly empirical culture grew doubtful that a piece of bread and a glass of wine could ever be more than mere matter. To return the gaze of the faithful to mystery, to assist congregations to see beyond the material, the Catholic Church called upon the talent of Caravaggio. the Carracci School and other great artists, who produced works that still delight, teach and move people today. This talk will look at old masterpieces with new eyes, revealing how artists used their gifts to render the invisible, visible.  

This event is co-presented with the Lumen Christi Institute.  Our co-sponsors include: the New England Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts Vatican Museums, the Collegium Institute's Ars Vivendi Arts Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania, the Saint Benedict Institute at Hope College (MI), the St. Paul's Catholic University Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the St. Lawrence Institute for Faith and Culture at the University of Kansas, the Nova Forum and the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California.