John the Baptist
Based on an Antique Holy Card

This is Art Nouveau, which is very rare in Catholic art. Done in 1905 at the height of that movement, it has many of the typical aspects of the Art Nouveau style: The organic shapes and lines, the pleasant decorative elements, the sense of it being done for beauty, out of the Aesthetic style.

Perhaps because Art Nouveau was light-hearted and pretty, associated with youth and popularity, it was unusual for it to be used for Catholic art. Evidently it didn't seem to match up with the seriousness of the subject matter.

In this splendid John the Baptist holy card, we think the heavy purple color helped nail it down. Give it gravity. But still, note how John looks the way a dashing silent movie star looked in the years that followed. We love Art Nouveau, or Jugendstil (Youth Style) in Germany, where this holy card comes from. We're grateful for what few examples we can find of Catholic Art from the Art Nouveau period. See our Labrousse "Madonna and Child" for another example, or our Loreto Embroideries.

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a white border of about 0.5" inch for 5x7", 1.3" for 8.5x11", or 1.6" for 11x14" pictures. All Approx! Fine art printers do this because the images are almost never the same rectangular ratio of the standard paper sizes. It also gives the prints a finished look, and lets them look good in a frame without a matt.

- Acid-free paper
- Archival pigments, rated to last for generations.
- Cardboard backer
- Above story of the art
- Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal clear bag.

Thanks for your interest!

Thanks!
Sue & John

"In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art." ~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson - CatholicArtAndJewelry.