Sacred subjects painted in oil, by hand

Why religious art

Devotional paintings were made for high walls and slow, distant looking

Most were composed to be seen from several metres below, which is exactly why they fail when hung small and low.

The old masters painted altarpieces and chapel panels for people standing back, often looking up. The compositions carry a lot of empty air above the figures and the faces are modelled in broad strokes that resolve at distance. Hang one of these at eye level in a narrow hallway and it reads as flat and a little stern. Give it three or four metres of viewing room and the whole thing opens up. Hand-painted in oil, the surface catches side light the way the originals do.

For a Bouguereau-style figure, go bigger than feels safe, 100 x 150cm or larger, and hang it so the figure's eyes sit above your own. The Greek island and chapel scenes are more forgiving and work at 60 x 90cm in a bedroom or stairwell landing. Warm whites, limewash and raw timber suit both. What fails is cool grey walls and black frames, which drain the ochres and make devotional work look funereal. Choose a thin gold, walnut or plain oak frame instead.

How your painting is made

1. Choose the size and finishSeven standard sizes from 60 × 50cm to 200 × 135cm. Stretched ready to hang, rolled, or one of our frames. The size guide on every painting shows it to scale.
2. Painted to order, by handA university-trained artist paints your piece in oils on canvas, working from the original. Two to three weeks at the easel, then drying time.
3. Stretched, framed, checkedGallery-wrapped or framed in our workshop, then photographed and checked before it leaves.
4. Delivered free, Australia-wideMade to order in 21 to 28 days, then tracked to your door. Thirty-day money-back guarantee if it isn't what you hoped.