Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (1621) Rubens. January 2nd is the feast day of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nazianzus. St. Gregory presided over the 2nd ecumenical council, which produced the Nicene Creed that is still said at Roman Catholic mass each Sunday. (with minor modifications – visible or invisible / seen or unseen – I’m looking at you!)

This painting is especially interesting because it is a preparatory painting for a larger work that Rubens created in Antwerp. The larger painting was destroyed when lightning struck the building so all that remains are the preparatory studies. This painting had been stored in the Friedenstein Castle in Gotha, Germany until World War II when the painting was moved to keep it out of the Russian Army’s hands. A few illegal sales later and the piece found its way to a gallery in Buffalo, New York where it has been kept for the past ~70 years. When the museum recently tried to sell it at auction, it was determined the painting was stolen and there was a private deal worked out to return the painting to the Friedenstein castle. Here is the full article.