Western Civilization Guild

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was one of the greatest artists of the Baroque age, and few men have ever given physical form to the glory of Christianity with such force. His sculptures do not merely depict saints, angels, martyrs, and biblical scenes. They appear alive before the viewer. Under Bernini’s hands, marble becomes flesh, cloth, wind, tears, agony, and divine ecstasy. His works were not created simply to decorate churches, but to overwhelm the senses and remind man that he stands before things infinitely greater than himself. They capture the moment…

At first glance, the unassuming facade of Saint John’s Co-Cathedral in Malta gives almost nothing away. From the outside, one could easily walk past it without realizing that behind those severe stone walls stands one of the most beautiful churches in all of Christendom. Built by the Order of St. John between 1573 and 1578, the cathedral remains one of the most stunning examples of Baroque sacred architecture in the world. It was designed by Girolamo Cassar, the Maltese architect responsible for many of Valletta’s most important buildings. Yet the…