Category: Fine Arts & Craftsmanship

A Designer Reveals the Higher Purpose of Architecture

NEW HOPE, N.Y.—“If you sing the perfect note right in the center stage, the person at the back of the amphitheater can hear it just as well as a person in the front,” says James H. Smith, educator and founder of Cartio, an architectural photography and design atelier. The ancient Greek amphitheaters “aren’t something that…


Salvation Through Art: ‘The Celebration of Svantovit’

There are historical moments when we turn our backs on the divine and suffer for it, but the traditional arts can always serve as a link back.  Czech artist Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939), who worked before and after the independence of Czechoslovakia in 1918, believed that art serves a spiritual purpose.  Mucha spent much of his early life in France creating commercial…


Aachen Cathedral: The Astonishing Chapel of Germanic Kings

From 795 to 843, Aachen, in western Germany, was the capital of the barbarian kingdom of Francia, also known as the Kingdom of the Franks. The Franks were Germanic people who ruled large parts of Western Europe from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages.  In the late eighth century, the king of the Franks and…


Remembering the Sacred at Christmas: ‘The Adoration of the Magi’

It’s easy to forget the purpose of Christmas with the hustle and bustle that comes with holiday shopping. This holiday season, I wish to use Jan Gossaert’s painting “The Adoration of the Magi” to remind us why Christmas is so special.  The Birth of Jesus “The Adoration of the Magi,” also known as “The Adoration…