From the Italian fresco, fresh. A mural painting technique characterised by the application of water-soaked colour pigments to fresh plaster or mortar. This technique is difficult to master and requires great speed of execution.

Created by Maurice Denis and George Desvallières after the First World War. The workshops combined the practice of art with a spiritual life, with a view to renewing Christian art, breaking with the so-called ‘Sulpician’ art of the 19th century. The painter Henri de Maistre was its director.

In the Christian Bible, the New Testament text that follows the Gospel of Luke. It relates the origins of Christianity and the mission of the Apostles.

‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church,’ Jesus said to his disciple Simon (Mt 16:18). Simon, now Peter, is often depicted with the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Today, the Pope and the bishops are his successors in the Church.

A figurative painter trained at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, he took part in the revival of religious art at the Ateliers d’Art Sacré founded by Maurice Denis and George Desvallières in 1919. From 1925 to 1947, he was the director of the Ateliers, working on frescoes and mural decorations in churc

Pagan king of the Franks from 481 to 511, he married a Christian Burgundian princess, the future Saint Clotilde, around 493, who convinced him to convert to Christianity. He was baptised in Reims, along with 3,000 soldiers, by Bishop Rémi and became the first Christian Frankish king.

Louis IX, King of France from 1226 to 1270, was a very pious Christian who loved justice and fairness. He led an edifying life without ostentation and died of an epidemic in Tunis during the 8th Crusade. The Church canonised him in 1297 in recognition of his virtues.

A great mystic of the Dominican Third Order, her reputation for holiness and her spiritual advice were listened to by the powerful. Encouraging the Pope in Avignon to return to Rome, she contributed to the unity of the Church. Patroness of Italy, she was declared Doctor of the Church and co-patroness of Europe

Italian poet, born in Florence, where he played a political role and wrote a poetic and philosophical work celebrating ideal love. He wrote the Divine Comedy, the first major work written in Italian rather than Latin, which recounts his vision of hell, purgatory and heaven.

Italian painter and architect, author of the fresco cycles of the Life of the Virgin in the Scrovegni chapel in Padua and the Life of Saint Francis in Assisi. Innovative in his interpretation of space, volumes and characters, which he painted with humanism, he heralded the Renaissance

A movement of cultural and artistic renewal that originated in Italy in the 15th century and spread throughout Europe in the 16th century, with the rediscovery of the heritage of Greco-Roman antiquity. This period falls between the Middle Ages and the Classical e

French heroine who commanded the King’s armies to free her country from the English invaders. Responding to a divine call, she helped Charles VII to become King of France, but after a trial for heresy she was burnt alive by the English in Rouen. She was canonised in 1920.

Dynastic conflict over the French crown between France and England at the end of the Middle Ages. Alternating between war and truce for over a century, it caused destruction and insecurity across the country, fostering the emergence of a strong and protective royal power.

A navigator from Genoa, he set up an expedition financed by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain to reach the Far East from the west, reaching the West Indies, Cuba and Haiti in 1492 with 3 ships. He landed for the first time on the coast of the American continent in 1498, on his third voyage.

Assembly convened by the Pope in response to the Protestant Reformation. This was a major element of the Catholic Reformation, known as the Counter-Reformation, through which the Church carried out a complete overhaul of its institutions, reaffirming its doctrine and giving new impetus to the propagation of the faith.

Geste sacramentel qui célèbre le sacrifice du corps et du sang de Jésus-Christ, présent sous les espèces du pain et du vin. Cœur et sommet de la vie des membres de l’Église qui les unissent au Christ mort sur la croix pour sauver les hommes. Le mot signifie « action de grâces », remerciement.

Ministre diplomate proche du cercle pieux de Barbe Acarie, il contribue à l’arrivée du Carmel en France. Figure majeure de la Réforme catholique au 17e s, il fonde en France la Société des prêtres de l’Oratoire (Oratoriens) en 1611, sur le modèle de celle fondée à Rome par saint Philippe Néri.

Priest, preacher and missionary, he contributed to the expansion of the Catholic reform stemming from the Council of Trent and founded an institute for the training of priests, the Eudists, as well as several seminaries. He promoted a spirituality of the heart through devotion to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

From the Latin séminaireium, nursery, institution defined by the Council of Trent in the 17th century for the training of priests. In the Catholic Church, a teaching establishment for those preparing for the priesthoo

Belief defined as a dogma of the Catholic faith by Pius IX in 1854. It signifies the purity of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, free from original sin from the moment of her conception, a sanctification that takes place in anticipation of her divine maternity. The Church celebrates this mystery on 8 December.