TWO MILLENNIA · MANY VOICES

Christianity.
A history in paintings.

From biblical roots to contemporary dialogue, discover the narratives, divisions and encounters that painters have made visible. Follow the story, or let a painting choose your next chapter.

Begin the journey ↓

20chapters80paintings34painters

A reading journey, not a claim to exhaust every Christian history. The period of a chapter and the date of a painting are different. Click a painting to visit its TPS reproduction; museum links are identified separately.

FOLLOW THE THREAD

One history.
Twenty ways in.

Each chapter opens a longer narrative with four paintings, distinctions between traditions and institutional sources.

Biblical narratives · first century

The Bible and Jewish roots

Before cathedrals and councils, a history rooted in Judaism and the Mediterranean world.

Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law — Rembrandt — Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law
Rembrandt
1659 · painting date

Sacrifice of Isaac — Caravaggio — Sacrifice of Isaac
Caravaggio
1603–1604 · painting date

Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther — Rembrandt — Ahasuerus and Haman at the Feast of Esther
Rembrandt
1660 · painting date

The Meeting between Abraham and Melchizedek — Peter Paul Rubens — The Meeting between Abraham and Melchizedek
Peter Paul Rubens
1616 · painting date

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Gospel infancy narratives

Annunciation, birth and first encounters

A room, a star and a displaced family: how painters give the Incarnation a visible form.

Annunciation — Fra Angelico — Annunciation
Fra Angelico
1425–1426 · painting date

The Adoration of the Magi — Hieronymus Bosch — The Adoration of the Magi
Hieronymus Bosch
1475 · painting date

Nativity — El Greco — Nativity
El Greco
1597 · painting date

Rest on the Flight into Egypt — Caravaggio — Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Caravaggio
1597 · painting date

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First century · Jesus’ ministry

Jesus: parables, words and encounters

Healing, return and transformed perception connect Gospel narratives with their painted interpretations.

Return of the Prodigal Son — Rembrandt — Return of the Prodigal Son
Rembrandt
c. 1668 · painting date

Christ Healing the Blind — El Greco — Christ Healing the Blind
El Greco
1570–1575 · painting date

Christ healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda — Bartolomé Esteban Murillo — Christ healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
1668 · painting date

Transfiguration — Raphael — Transfiguration
Raphael
1516–1520 · painting date

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Around 30 CE · Passion narratives

The Passion: cross and compassion

From the final meal to the tomb, images that engage the body and collective memory.

The Last Supper — El Greco — The Last Supper
El Greco
1568 · painting date

The Descent from the Cross — Rogier van der Weyden — The Descent from the Cross
Rogier van der Weyden
c. 1440 · painting date

The Entombment of Christ — Caravaggio — The Entombment of Christ
Caravaggio
1602–1603 · painting date

The Elevation of the Cross — Peter Paul Rubens — The Elevation of the Cross
Peter Paul Rubens
1610–1611 · painting date

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First–third centuries · communities and missions

Resurrection and the first communities

Easter faith, letters, journeys and communities that were never all alike.

The Resurrection of Christ — Johann König — The Resurrection of Christ
Johann König
1622 · painting date

The Pentecost — El Greco — The Pentecost
El Greco
1600 · painting date

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas — Caravaggio — The Incredulity of Saint Thomas
Caravaggio
1601–1602 · painting date

Conversion on the Way to Damascus — Caravaggio — Conversion on the Way to Damascus
Caravaggio
1600–1601 · painting date

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Second–fourth centuries · Roman Empire

Rome, persecution and the memory of martyrs

Local trials, saints’ narratives and an empire in transformation: a less uniform history than it may appear.

Crucifixion of Saint Peter — Caravaggio — Crucifixion of Saint Peter
Caravaggio
1600 · painting date

The Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia — Raphael — The Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia
Raphael
1514 · painting date

The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian — El Greco — The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian
El Greco
1577 · painting date

The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula — Caravaggio — The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula
Caravaggio
1610 · painting date

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Fourth–seventh centuries · definitions and divisions

Councils and Eastern Christianities

Defining belief, translating its language and understanding divisions beyond Rome versus Constantinople.

St. Augustine in His Study — Vittore Carpaccio — St. Augustine in His Study
Vittore Carpaccio
1502 · painting date

Vision of St Augustine — Filippo Lippi — Vision of St Augustine
Filippo Lippi
1452 · painting date

Saint Catherine of Alexandria — Caravaggio — Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Caravaggio
1598 · painting date

Saint Jerome in the Wilderness — Leonardo da Vinci — Saint Jerome in the Wilderness
Leonardo da Vinci
1480–1482 · painting date

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Eighth–fifteenth centuries · images and Byzantium

Byzantium, icons and light

What an image may represent, what it may receive and why these questions generated lasting disputes.

St Luke painting the Virgin — El Greco — St Luke painting the Virgin
El Greco
1560–1567 · painting date

Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin — Rogier van der Weyden — Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin
Rogier van der Weyden
c. 1435–1440 · painting date

Saint Peter and Saint Paul — El Greco — Saint Peter and Saint Paul
El Greco
1595 · painting date

Christ on the Cross — El Greco — Christ on the Cross
El Greco
1600 · painting date

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Fourth–thirteenth centuries · religious lives

Monks, manuscripts and transmission

Desert, book and community: ways of life that transform art and learning.

Temptation of Saint Anthony — Hieronymus Bosch — Temptation of Saint Anthony
Hieronymus Bosch
1501 · painting date

Saint Benedict — El Greco — Saint Benedict
El Greco
1577–1579 · painting date

Saint Hugh in the Carthusian Refectory — Francisco de Zurbarán — Saint Hugh in the Carthusian Refectory
Francisco de Zurbarán
1655 · painting date

Saint Jerome Writing — Caravaggio — Saint Jerome Writing
Caravaggio
1607–1608 · painting date

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Twelfth–fifteenth centuries · cities and images

The Middle Ages: cathedrals, patrons and judgement

Images in lived spaces: prayer, status, fear, hope and the movement of visitors.

Rucellai Madonna — Duccio di Buoninsegna — Rucellai Madonna
Duccio di Buoninsegna
1285 · painting date

The Last Judgment — Hans Memling — The Last Judgment
Hans Memling
1467–1471 · painting date

Virgin and Child Enthroned — Rogier van der Weyden — Virgin and Child Enthroned
Rogier van der Weyden
c. 1430 · painting date

Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds — John Constable — Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds
John Constable
1823 · painting date

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Thirteenth–nineteenth centuries · devotional practices

Franciscans, Mary and devotional life

Poverty, contemplation and familiar figures: practices interpreted differently across Christian traditions.

Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy — Caravaggio — Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy
Caravaggio
1594–1595 · painting date

Saint Francis in Meditation — Caravaggio — Saint Francis in Meditation
Caravaggio
1606–1607 · painting date

Sistine Madonna — Raphael — Sistine Madonna
Raphael
1512–1513 · painting date

The Immaculate Conception — Bartolomé Esteban Murillo — The Immaculate Conception
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
c. 1680 · painting date

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Fifteenth–sixteenth centuries · patronage and humanism

Renaissance, humanism and the papacy

Texts, workshops and commissions transform the representation of the Christian world.

Madonna of Foligno — Raphael — Madonna of Foligno
Raphael
1511–1512 · painting date

Madonna of the Goldfinch — Raphael — Madonna of the Goldfinch
Raphael
1505–1506 · painting date

The Last Judgment — Fra Angelico — The Last Judgment
Fra Angelico
c. 1431 · painting date

The Disputation on the Trinity — Andrea del Sarto — The Disputation on the Trinity
Andrea del Sarto
1517 · painting date

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Sixteenth century · Protestant Reformations

Reformations: Luther, scripture and images

Debates about belief and authority reshape religious life through different paths, not one uniform movement.

Portrait of Martin Luther — Lucas Cranach the Elder — Portrait of Martin Luther
Lucas Cranach the Elder
1528 · painting date

Martin Luther — Lucas Cranach the Elder — Martin Luther
Lucas Cranach the Elder
1526 · painting date

Law and Grace — Lucas Cranach the Elder — Law and Grace
Lucas Cranach the Elder
1529 · painting date

Christ blessing the children — Lucas Cranach the Elder — Christ blessing the children
Lucas Cranach the Elder
16th century · painting date

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Sixteenth–seventeenth centuries · Catholic reform

Catholic reform and Baroque intensity

Images teach, move and express belonging within institutions undergoing transformation.

Miracle of Saint Ignatius of Loyola — Peter Paul Rubens — Miracle of Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Peter Paul Rubens
1618 · painting date

The Adoration of the Name of Jesus — El Greco — The Adoration of the Name of Jesus
El Greco
1578–1580 · painting date

The Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Bernard — Bartolomé Esteban Murillo — The Apparition of the Virgin to Saint Bernard
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
1655 · painting date

Miracles of St. Francis Xavier — Peter Paul Rubens — Miracles of St. Francis Xavier
Peter Paul Rubens
1617–1618 · painting date

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Eleventh–eighteenth centuries · conflicts and coexistence

Religious conflict and learning to coexist

Crusades, confessional divisions, power and everyday life: looking without glorifying violence.

The Massacre of the Innocents — Pieter Brueghel the Elder — The Massacre of the Innocents
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
1566 · painting date

Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery — Pieter Brueghel the Elder — Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
1565 · painting date

Church interior at night — Anthonie de Lorme — Church interior at night
Anthonie de Lorme
17th century · painting date

London: Westminster Abbey, with a Procession of Knights of the Bath — Canaletto — London: Westminster Abbey, with a Procession of Knights of the Bath
Canaletto
1749 · painting date

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Fourth century–early modern period · connected histories

Africa, Asia and ancient Christianities

Christian histories that do not everywhere begin with European missions.

The Baptism of the Eunuch — Rembrandt — The Baptism of the Eunuch
Rembrandt
1626 · painting date

The Entombment of Christ — El Greco — The Entombment of Christ
El Greco
1570 · painting date

St. Luke — El Greco — St. Luke
El Greco
1608–1614 · painting date

Saint Paul — El Greco — Saint Paul
El Greco
1608–1614 · painting date

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Sixteenth–nineteenth centuries · missions and empires

Missions, empires and travelling images

Spreading faith, translating forms and examining power in encounters between societies.

Saint John the Baptist Preaching — Paolo Veronese — Saint John the Baptist Preaching
Paolo Veronese
1562 · painting date

Saint Elisabeth of Hungary healing the poor — Bartolomé Esteban Murillo — Saint Elisabeth of Hungary healing the poor
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
1672 · painting date

The Infant Christ Distributing Bread to the Pilgrims — Bartolomé Esteban Murillo — The Infant Christ Distributing Bread to the Pilgrims
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
1678 · painting date

What Our Lord Saw from the Cross — James Tissot — What Our Lord Saw from the Cross
James Tissot
1890 · painting date

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Eighteenth–nineteenth centuries · criticism and change

Enlightenment, revolutions and conscience

Criticising institutions, retaining faith or reconsidering it: images do not all lead to the same conclusion.

The Inquisition Tribunal — Francisco Goya — The Inquisition Tribunal
Francisco Goya
1812 · painting date

A Procession of Flagellants — Francisco Goya — A Procession of Flagellants
Francisco Goya
1814–1816 · painting date

"What is truth?" Christ and Pilate — Nikolai Ge — "What is truth?" Christ and Pilate
Nikolai Ge
1890 · painting date

Procession in St. Mark's Square — Gentile Bellini — Procession in St. Mark's Square
Gentile Bellini
c. 1496 · painting date

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Nineteenth century · sensibilities and modernity

Romanticism and modern spiritualities

A cross in a landscape, prayer in a field and light at a doorway: changing forms of religious presence.

Cross and cathedral in the mountains — Caspar David Friedrich — Cross and cathedral in the mountains
Caspar David Friedrich
1812 · painting date

The Yellow Christ — Paul Gauguin — The Yellow Christ
Paul Gauguin
1889 · painting date

The Light of the World — William Holman Hunt — The Light of the World
William Holman Hunt
1853 · painting date

The Angelus — Jean-François Millet — The Angelus
Jean-François Millet
1857–1859 · painting date

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Twentieth–twenty-first centuries · memory and dialogue

Contemporary Christianities, memory and dialogue

Understanding living traditions without reducing them to divisions or declaring them extinct.

The Good Samaritan — Vincent van Gogh — The Good Samaritan
Vincent van Gogh
1890 · painting date

Christ and the Samaritan Woman — Duccio di Buoninsegna — Christ and the Samaritan Woman
Duccio di Buoninsegna
1310 · painting date

Christ and the Woman of Samaria — Annibale Carracci — Christ and the Woman of Samaria
Annibale Carracci
c. 1594 · painting date

Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery — Vasily Polenov — Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery
Vasily Polenov
1888 · painting date

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KEEP THE DISTINCTIONS

Shared stories.
Different traditions.

A painter’s style does not establish a viewer’s faith. These are reading keys, not exhaustive definitions of every community.

Catholic traditions

Images accompany liturgy, prayer and the memory of saints. Councils, the papacy and local practices shape this history; doctrinal formulations have their own dates.

Eastern Christianities

Byzantine tradition, Oriental Orthodox churches and the Church of the East are not one undifferentiated group. Languages, councils and uses of images invite distinctions between their histories.

Protestant traditions

The Reformations give varied answers to the question of images. Some churches greatly restrict them; others retain biblical painting. Lutheran, Reformed and Anglican traditions are not interchangeable.

Catholic primary sourceCatechism — images and veneration ↗

Orthodox primary sourceOrthodox Church in America — icons ↗

Lutheran primary sourceAugsburg Confession — worship of saints ↗

Museum · art historyThe Met — The Reformation ↗

GO BEYOND THE PAINTING

Museums, archives
& primary sources.

Each chapter cites its own sources. Museum collection links document the original; check the institution’s current display and access information before travelling. Confessional texts are labelled as such rather than presented as neutral accounts.

Academic researchYale — historical study of the New Testament ↗

Archives and libraryVatican Apostolic Library — digitised manuscripts ↗

Museum · collectionsVatican Museums — the Pinacoteca ↗

Archives and libraryBibliothèque nationale de France — Gallica ↗

Museum · Ethiopian manuscriptCleveland — Ethiopian Gospel leaf with Saint Luke, ca. 1440–1480 ↗

Ecumenical primary sourceWorld Council of Churches — history ↗

Before you continue

Do the paintings belong to the period of the narrative?

Not necessarily. A Renaissance painting may interpret an ancient narrative; a nineteenth-century painting may depict a medieval cathedral. Each caption identifies the painting’s date.

Where does a painting link lead?

To its The Painting Studio reproduction page. Museum entries and collections are linked separately in the chapters, to study the original and plan a possible visit.

Is this only a Catholic history?

No. The journey distinguishes Catholic readings, Eastern Christianities, Protestant traditions and ecumenical approaches. Confessional sources are labelled; no painting summarises every tradition.

What do paintings in contemporary chapters represent?

Themes reconsidered in the present: hospitality, conscience, encounter and dialogue. Older paintings are not presented as archival images of twentieth-century councils or events.

One history.Twenty ways in.

Shared stories.Different traditions.

Catholic traditions

Eastern Christianities

Protestant traditions

Museums, archives& primary sources.

Before you continue

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One history.
Twenty ways in.

Shared stories.
Different traditions.

Museums, archives
& primary sources.