The Secrets of Sacred Art

The key to a twelfth-century chapel hangs on a signpost in an empty Shropshire field. Alix Murray walks Kathryn Laffrey through Heath Chapel's carved Norman arch, its Reformation-scarred wall paintings, and a saint named before reading a word.

The post Nine Hundred Years in an Empty Field appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Beeswax, a wick, and a flame you can share without losing any of it. Alix Murray and Kathryn Laffrey take the Paschal candle apart, then paint their own: transfer paper, underpainting, and a paring knife that fixes almost anything.

The post The Gift of Mother Bees appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Announcing Holy Troublemakers, a new podcast from StarQuest. In this weekly podcast host Dom Bettinelli will introduce you to the difficult people who built the Catholic Church. From mystics who argued with popes to missionaries who walked into places nobody sane would go, every episode tells one of their stories.

The post Announcing Holy Troublemakers appeared first on StarQuest Media.

A roofless, wall-less church of white metal tubes stands in a Chinese lavender field, praised by architects for how completely it disappears. Kathryn Laffrey and Alix Murray ask what a building says when it is built to vanish.

The post The Shadowless Church appeared first on StarQuest Media.

A Magnificat bookmark turns into a full rabbit hole back into the Ghent Altarpiece. Kathryn Laffrey and Alix Murray zoom into Van Eyck's endless blue horizon and the restoration secrets it just gave up.

The post How Van Eyck Painted Forever appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Fra Angelico's early Crucifixion panel is barely bigger than a cabinet door — and only the Virgin Mary looks straight at you. Alix Murray and Kathryn Laffrey trace every figure's gaze and find a tiny pelican hidden in the cross.

The post The Painting That Looks Back: Fra Angelico’s Crucifixion appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Sacred art hides secrets that never make the show. Alix Murray and Kathryn Laffrey launch Secrets of Sacred Art Rabbit Holes — quick, off-the-cuff dives into the art, churches, and saints that stopped them in their tracks.

The post Rabbit Holes appeared first on StarQuest Media.

A Scottish priest spends six decades in China and never once bullies anyone into belief. Kathryn Laffrey and Alix Murray dig into The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) — Gregory Peck's first Oscar-nominated role — and the power of Golden Age faith on film.

The post The Keys of the Kingdom appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Built without a single nail, carved with dragons, and still standing 800 years later. Kathryn Laffrey and Alix Murray trace the history, theology, and Catholic heritage of Norway's medieval stave churches — and their surprising American descendants.

The post Grace and Dragons: Stavkirker of Norway appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Dragons haunt sacred art from Genesis to Revelation, carrying meanings that shift with every century. Kathryn Laffrey and Alix Murray trace them from the Aberdeen Bestiary through saints, scripture, and the serpent that wore a woman's face.

The post Here There Be Dragons! appeared first on StarQuest Media.