Lent begins on Wednesday, February 22. I won’t be doing daily Lenten posts like I did last year, though I will be sharing seasonal content once or twice a week. If you want a set of new daily art-driven devotions that are freely accessible online, I’d encourage you to follow The Lent Project, run by the Center for Christianity, Culture, and the Arts at Biola University; each day features a scripture passage, a poem, a visual artwork, a piece of music, and a written reflection. I’d also direct you to my Lent Playlist (new additions at bottom) and Holy Week Playlist on Spotify.
Another spiritual formation resource for Lent is the following series of Arts & Faith videos from Loyola Press, made in 2014–16. Each video features a three-minute commentary by Dr. Daniella Zsupan-Jerome on a historical artwork, chosen based on one of that day’s/week’s scripture readings from the Roman Catholic Mass Lectionary, which is currently in year A. Zsupan-Jerome is the director of ministry formation and field education at Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. Here she has crafted a “visual prayer experience” inspired by the Ignatian imagination. In his Spiritual Exercises, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), encourages Christians to apply the senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste to our reading of and meditation on the New Testament, imagining ourselves as present in the Gospel scenes.
Go to the “Arts & Faith: Lent” homepage, or see below, where the link on each artwork title will take you to a new tab where the corresponding video commentary is hosted on the Loyola website. I’ve included sample embeds of a few of the videos below.
Arts & Faith: Lent, Cycle A
> ASH WEDNESDAY: Pieter Brueghel the Elder, The Fight Between Carnival and Lent, 1559
> WEEK 1: Ivan Kramskoi, Christ in the Desert, 1872
> WEEK 2: Raphael, Transfiguration, 1518–20
> WEEK 3: St. Photini (The Woman at the Well) (Orthodox icon)
> WEEK 4: El Greco, Christ Healing the Blind, ca. 1567
> WEEK 5: János Vaszary, Resuscitation of Lazarus, 1912
> PALM SUNDAY: Giotto di Bondone, Entry into Jerusalem, ca. 1305
> HOLY THURSDAY: Bernhard Strigel, Christ Washing the Disciples’ Feet, ca. 1520
> GOOD FRIDAY: Titian, Christ and the Good Thief, ca. 1566
> HOLY SATURDAY: Triumph of the Cross, 12th century, apse mosaic from the Basilica of San Clemente, Rome
> EASTER SUNDAY: Piero della Francesca, The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 1463
Arts & Faith: Lent, Cycle B
> ASH WEDNESDAY: Carl Spitzweg, Ash Wednesday, 1860
> WEEK 1: The Temptation of Christ, 12th century, Basilica of St. Mark, Venice
> WEEK 2: Francesco Zuccarelli, Landscape with the Transfiguration of Christ, 1788
> WEEK 3: Quentin Matsys, Jesus Chasing the Merchants from the Temple, 16th century
> WEEK 4: James Tissot, Interview between Jesus and Nicodemus, 1886–94
> WEEK 5: Vincent van Gogh, The Sower, 1888
> PALM SUNDAY: Caravaggio, The Denial of Saint Peter, 1610
> HOLY THURSDAY: Tintoretto, Christ Washing the Disciples’ Feet, 1548–49
> GOOD FRIDAY: Master of the Karlsruhe Passion, The Capture of Christ, ca. 1450
> HOLY SATURDAY: Jacopo di Cione, The Three Marys at the Sepulchre, detail from the San Pier Maggiore Altarpiece, 1370–71
> EASTER SUNDAY: Eugène Burnand, The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection, 1898
Arts & Faith: Lent, Cycle C
> ASH WEDNESDAY: John Berney Crome, Great Gale at Yarmouth on Ash Wednesday, 1836
> WEEK 1: Limbourg Brothers, The Temptation of Christ, 1411–16
> WEEK 2: Lorenzo Lotto, The Transfiguration of Christ, ca. 1511
> WEEK 3: Alexey Pismenny, Parable of the Fruitless Fig Tree, 2008
> WEEK 4: Rembrandt van Rijn, The Return of the Prodigal Son, ca. 1668
> WEEK 5: Palma il Vecchio, Christ and the Adulteress, ca. 1525–28
> PALM SUNDAY: Wilhelm Morgner, Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, 1912
> HOLY THURSDAY: Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples, ca. 1210, Basilica of St. Mark, Venice
> GOOD FRIDAY: Andrea Mantegna, The Dead Christ (Lamentation of Christ), 1475–78
> HOLY SATURDAY: The Women at the Tomb; The Descent into Limbo, Armenia, 1386
> EASTER SUNDAY: Redemption Window (detail), Corona Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral, ca. 1200–1207
Art & Theology 
You made a great work! Thank you so much! I love it! Keeping you in my prayers.
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