Paintings Depicting Prayer
Themes of St. Francis, St. Jerome, the Virgin Mary, David, Hezekiah, and Christ in Prayer

collected by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

Free E-mail Bible Study Bible study Humility: Disciple's Guide to a Humble Life

Zurbaran, St. Francis in Meditation and Prayer
Francisco De Zurbarán (1598-1664), St. Francis in Meditation (1635-39), Oil on canvas. National Gallery, London, 162 x 137 cm. Larger image.

Alessandro Magnasco (Italian painter, 1667-1749), Praying Monks. Oil on canvas, 53,6 x 43,9 cm, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent

Nicolaes Maes (Dutch painter, 1634-1693), Old Woman at Prayer, known as "Prayer without End" (1656), oil on canvas, 134 x 113 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Aert de Gelder (Dutch painter, 1645-1727), Old Woman Praying (c. 1700), Oil on Canvas, 35.63" x 30.91" (90.5 x 78.5 cm.).

Matthias Stom (Dutch, c. 1600- c.1649), Old Woman Praying, oil on canvas; 30 5/8 x 25 1/8 in. (77.8 x 63.8 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Henry Holiday, Figure Praying (1919-1920), Stained Glass, Calvary Album, photo taken by P. Neil Ralley

Jean-François Millet (French Realist Painter, 1814-1875), "The Angelus" (El Rezo del Angelus, 1857-59), oil on canvas, 55.5 x 66 cm, Musee d'Orsay, Paris. Moving painting of farmer and wife in field thanking God for his provision during potato harvest. Another.

Marc Chagall, The Praying Jew, 1923, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago.

Bretons Praying (1888) by Dagnan-Bouveret
Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret (French painter, 1852-1929), "Bretons Praying" (1888), 
Oil on canvas, 124x85cm, private collection. Larger image. (Note: Bretons are residents of Brittany, France.)

Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret, Bretons praying (1888), oil on canvas, 124x85cm, private collection.

 

St. Francis Praying

El Greco (1548-1614), St Francis Praying (1580-85), oil on canvas, 116 x 102 cm, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha.

Leonardo Da Vinci, Saint Jerome Praying in the Wilderness, unfinished painting on wood panel
(1032 x 749 mm), Vatican City, Musei Vaticani.

Annibale Carracci  (Italian painter, 1560-1609), St. Francis of Assissi (1585-90). Larger image.

Francisco De Zurbarán (1598-1664). Several striking paintings of St. Francis of Assisi in prayer.

Mathias Stom, Old Woman Praying
"Old Woman Praying," by Matthias Stom (Flemish painter, 1600-c. 1649), oil on canvas; 30 5/8 x 25 1/8 in., Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Larger image.

Bartolomew Esteban Murillo, Saint Francis of Asisi praying (1645-50), Oil on fabric. 182 X 129 cm., Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Antwerp.

Alonso Cano, San Francesco (1657- 1659), Iglesia de S. Francisco el Grande, Madrid, olio su tela

Mic Carlson, contemporary painter and illustrator, has a number of paintings of St. Francis, with a beautuful study of Francis praying.

St. Jerome Praying

Follower of Caravaggio, anamorphic Saint Jerome Praying, 1635, oil on canvas. Circular distortion.

Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt (1606-1669)

The Virgin Mary in Prayer

Sassoferrato (Italian painter (1609-1685) (Giovanni Battista Salvi)

Albrecht Dürer (Dutch painter, engraver, and woodcut illustrator)

Gerrit Dou (Dutch Painter), The Prayer of the Spinner (1630-1650), oil on wood, 27,7 x 28,3 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt (1606-1669)

  • Moses Breaking the 10 Commandments
  • Old Woman praying (Rembrandt's Mother Praying, 1629/30), Oil/Copperplate with gold priming, 15,5 x 12,2 cm. Residenz Galerie, Salzburg
  • Apostle Paul (1657), Oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 40.9" x 51.6" (104.0cm x 131.0cm). Rembrandt (and Workshop?)

Michaelangelo

Charles Sprague Pearce, Religion (Prayer, 1886), Library of Congress, Washington DCDante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), 

  • "King David" (1858-64), from The Seed of David, King David (1858-64), watercolor on paper support, 279 x 127 mm, Tate Collections.

Charles Sprague Pearce (American artist, 1851-1914)

  • Religion (AKA Prayer, 1886), mural in the north corridor, Great Hall, Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress, Washington DC. Praying before a crude altar

Illustrators

J.H. Hartley,  in James Bailie and J H Hartley (illustrator), The Bible Story a connected narrative retold from Holy Scripture (A & C Black Ltd., London, 1923). Moses Praying on Mt. Pisgah  (1922) (clipart.com collection, color, #1050661).

Millais, Sir John Everett (Pre-Raphaelite English painter and illustrator, 1829-1896). Judah and Hur Holding Up Moses' Hands (clipart.com, b&w, #497466)

James J. Tissot (1836-1902), David Praying in the Night
James J. Tissot (1836-1902, French artist and illustrator), "David Praying in the Night," gouach on board, Jewish Museum, New York.

Tissot, James J. (1836-1902, French artist and illustrator). Other works.

Gertrude Marsh, Hezekiah spread it before the Lord (1891)

Morgan Weistling (California illustrator and painter, 1964- )

  • "A Thankful Heart" (2001). Girl with white apron, long dress, single pigtail and folded hands praying before a meal. Reminiscent of Norman Rockwell.
  • "Thy Will Be Done" (1998). Jesus, with white hooded robe, with folded hands, standing in prayer. "I wanted to emphasize his strong carpenter's hands, clasped in prayer, representing his communion with the Father" - Morgan Weistling.

F. Alexandre Bida (French painter and illustrator, 1813-1895). Illustrated Les Saints Evangeles (1873) with 28 etchings and Christ in Art; or, The Gospel Life of Jesus: With the Bida Illustrations. by Edward Eggleston (New York: Fords, Howard, & Hulbert, 1874)
 

Rudolf Schäfer (1929), from illustrated German Bible. Available from ClipArt.com

Contemporary Painters on Prayer

David's Confession in Psalm 51

Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld (German artist, 1794-1872), woodcut illustrations in Das Buch der Bücher in Bilden

Daniel Praying

  • Sir Edward Poynter (English neoclassical painter, 1836-1919), Daniel's Prayer (1865), from Illustrations for `Dalziel's Bible Gallery'. Relief print on paper, image: 190 x 175 mm, on paper, print. Tate Collection.
  • Unknown Illustrator, Daniel's Confession.
  • RUBENS, Pieter Pauwel, Daniel in the Lion's Den, c. 1615, Oil on canvas, 224.3 x 330.4 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington. Daniel looks terrified and naked.
  • Briton Rivière (British Painter, 1840-1920)

Daniel's Answer to the King (1890), oil on canvas, 74x47-7/16 inches, Manchester Art Gallary, UK.
Daniel in the Lion's Den (1872), Walker Art Gallery.

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

Paul Troger, Christ comforted by an angel (1730)
Paul Troger (Austrian Painter, 1698-1762), Christ comforted by an angel (c. 1730), oil on canvas, Museo Diocesano, Camerino. Larger image.
  • Collection in Biblical Art on the WWW on Jesus praying in agony
  • William Blake, The Agony in the Garden (c. 1799-1800), Tempera on copper, Tate Collections.
  • Heinrich Hofmann (1824–1911), Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Well known image, but prayer looks quite passive, no agony at all. Idealized.
  • Gerrit van Honthorst, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, Oil on canvas. 113x110 cm, Holland. c1617. State Hermitage Museum.
  • Paul Troger (Austrian Painter, 1698-1762), Christ comforted by an angel (c. 1730), oil on canvas, Museo Diocesano, Camerino
  • Unknown contemporary, from Vie de Jésus Mafa, black Christ with engaging hands, sleeping disciples.
  • Paolo Veronese (Italian, Mannerism, 1528-1588), Christ in the garden supported by an angel (c. 1580), oil on canvas, 31 3/8 x 42 1/2 inches, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
  • Warner Sallman, Christ in Gethsamene. Idealized.
  • Carl Heinrich Bloch (Danish painter, 1834-1890), Christ in Gethsamene, The National Historical Museum at Frederiksborg Castle. Comforted by an angel. Striking painting, sorrow rather than agony.
  • Kathryn Barnes, contemporary painter, Christ at Gethsemane, portrait. Oils on canvas.
  • Tracey Clark, contemporary artist, Christ At Gethsemane, sienna on toned paper / 24" x 20", 1998. Striking drawing of Christ in a fetal position, ministered to by an angel. Catches the idea of agony in prayer better than almost any I've seen. A related drawing, Christ In The Wilderness, sienna on toned paper / 25.5" x 18", 1999.
  • Eugène Delacroix (1798-1862), Christ in the Olive Garden (1824-27), oil on canvas, 362 x 294 cm
  • James C. Christensen (1942- ), Gethsemane (1984), oil on panel, 40" x 44".Striking depiction of Jesus in earnest prayer backed up by an angel behind him.BYU graduate.
  • El Greco, Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (1597-1600). Oil on canvas. Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio

Collections

Great Prayers of the Bible

Christian Art and Paintings: Abraham Art | Agnus Dei Art | Angel Art | Annunciation Art | Celtic Stone Cross Art | Christian Symbols and Art | Christmas Art | David |  Easter Art | Elijah | Passion of Christ by Tissot | Gideon | Hebrew-Jewish Art | Holy Week Art | Jacob | Jesus' Ministry Art | Jesus' Teaching Art | Jesus Portraits and Art | John the Baptist | John the Apostle | Lamb of God Art | Last Supper Art | Madonna & Child Art | Moses and the Exodus | Names of God Art | OT Misc Art | Psalms Art | Palm Sunday Art | Paul Art and Paintings | Day of Pentecost Art | Peter Art and Paintings | Prayer Art | Resurrection Art | Revelation Art | Solomon |Thanksgiving and Pilgrims Art | Timothy Art and Paintings
Copyright of artwork. Much, but not all, of the artwork linked to on this site is in the public domain worldwide due to the date of death of its author (if it is was published outside of the U.S. and the author has been dead for over 70 years), or due to its date of publication (if it was first made public in the U.S. before 1923), at least in the United States (see Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp.), in Germany, and in many other countries.

Copyright © 2024, Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor@joyfulheart.com> All rights reserved. A single copy of this article is free. Do not put this on a website. See legal, copyright, and reprint information.

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