Much Christian art describes prayer, from the churches large and small called “houses of prayer” to mosaics, statues and paintings showing holy women and men in the act of prayer. Art in fact has been a “school of prayer”, and this retreat reflects on the ways in which artists supported this essential function of Christian life for communities and individuals. Leading the reflection, and opening it to prayerful meditation, is Monsignor Timothy Verdon, a Roman Catholic priest and art historian based in Florence, Italy, who will project images of the works discussed.

Schedule:
First Meditation: Houses of Prayer: Symbols of Inner Space.
Second Meditation: Images of Prayer: Visualizing the Invisible
Third Meditation: Styles of Prayer: The Languages of Relationship

Bio:
Born in New Jersey in 1946, Monsignor Timothy Verdon is a Canon of Florence Cathedral and Director of the Cathedral Museum or ‘Museo dell ‘Opera del Duomo’. Trained at Yale (Ph.D 1975), he has been a Consultor of the Vatican commission for the cultural heritage of the Church and a Fellow of the Harvard University Center for Renaissance Studies in Florence, Villa I Tatti. Author of articles and books on sacred art (including two for Paraclete Press), Verdon is also an instructor in the Stanford University program in Florence and has organized exhibitions in Florence, Turin, Seoul, Washington, DC, and New York City.