This warm-hearted prayer scene shows some Italian laity and two Franciscan brothers in what looks like a side chapel in an old stone church in Italy. It looks cozy and prayerful, a place we would like to be. The one Franciscan at the back is holding up his hands like Francis is often shown doing when he received the stigmata. The Italian father with his family looks a bit worried, as many fathers often are, and the mother is teaching their child how to pray. Church is a place of peace, a refuge from the world.

Johann Nepomuk Schödlberger (1779-1853) was born very poor in Vienna, but he had a natural talent for art. As an older child, he taught younger children how to draw, and later the self-taught Schödlberger got a job as a drawing instructor at a local school. He became very skilled at painting kindly, beautiful scenes and landscapes, occasionally with religious themes, and eventually attracted the attention of the nobility. The Emperor Francis II became a patron and advocate, and later the King of Bavaria granted him major commissions. He became a professor at Vienna's Academy of Fine Arts and was an important figure in the European art scene.

This work is housed at Kunsthistorisches, the Museum of Fine Arts in Vienna. 1830. Oil on canvas. 20.2 x 25.5 inches. (source: Artvee.com)

** 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. The border gives the prints a finished look, and lets them look good in frames without using 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

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Also, check out our Catholic Quote shop, where we are pairing authentic quotes from Saints with Art: www.Etsy.com/shop/CatholicQuote

"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 - Classic Catholic Art.