Painting the Sacred

Painting and sculpture, particularly the representational kind, have always been associated with the Church. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the President of the Special Commission that wrote the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, wrote beautifully in the Introduction about the relationship between images and our faith: “It is an indication of how today more than ever, in a culture of images, a sacred image can express much more than what can be said in words, and be an extremely effective and dynamic way of communicating the Gospel message”. 

This gallery encompasses painting collections of the parishes that include cuadro paintings of holy figures, the saints, the holy fathers, depictions of scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and painted stampa with depictions of the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. 

More than ornamentation, these paintings purposely edify our faith, tell stories and authentically nourish religious fervor among the viewers. Equally important is the idea that these artworks are the Cebuano artist’s depiction of the sacred.