St. Bruno of Cologne – Founder of the Carthusian Order – Eustache Le Sueur – Catholic Artwork – Catholic Gift

Peaceful and contemplative, this beautiful painting shows us St. Bruno of Cologne praying in his monastic cell. Life outside is beautiful, and there are gardens just past his door which are well tended. But his prayer life is central.

Founder of the Carthusian Order, Bruno of Cologne (1030–1101) was a renowned professor and theologian. He made a vow to renounce secular concerns and withdrew to a lonely place and, along with some other hermits, devoted himself to prayer and study. This was the beginning of the Order.

Here in the picture of him in his cell we can get some sense of the holiness of the man. He has his cross, some books, and a momento mori, a reminder of death. It is a beautiful reminder to us, with all the duties and things we need to tend to, to remember the important things. One of St. Bruno’s quotes is, "While the world changes, the cross stands firm." Feast Day October 6.

This painting is attributed to Eustache le Sueur (1617-1655). From the look of things, we gather that there were multiple copies of it painted, as was a long-time custom among painters before printing. Le Sueur was a founder of the French Academy of Painting, and was known for his religious work. We carry another of his, Meekness.

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a blank border around the image. Approximately 0.5" wide for 5x7, 1.3" for 8.5x11, 1.6" for 11x14, and 1.75" for 13x17 and 16x20. For the two poster sizes, 18x24 and 24x36, we use 0.5" borders. We do this because the ratio of the rectangle of the art almost never matches the rectangle of the paper, and if it did happen to match one size, it would not match the others. Most fine art printers do this because otherwise they’d have to crop the art or warp it to make it fit the paper. The border looks good. It gives the picture a faux matted appearance.

There is almost always a little more border either on the left-right sides, or the top-bottom, depending on whether the ratio of the art is wider or taller than the paper.

We make Archival Quality fine art prints:

– Acid-free paper

– Archival pigments

– Cardboard backer for sizes 11x14 and less.

– Above story of the art

– Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal-clear bag.

– Rated to last 200+ years without fading if kept dry and out of the direct sun.

Thanks for your interest!

+JMJ+

Sue & John

Lincoln, Nebraska

“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 any image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson – Classic Catholic Art.