Questions

Answers to the questions we are asked most.

These paintings are in the public domain. Why am I paying you?

You are not paying for the painting. You could not, and neither could we — a work by Bellini belongs to everybody, and we say so on every product page.

You are paying for the rest of it: a master file large enough that a 32-inch sheet is still sharp when you stand close, a print on archival cotton rag rather than poster stock, pigment inks that do not shift over a decade on a wall, the colour work, and the choosing. Three hundred and forty-six works out of a possible many thousands, each checked for provenance, for resolution, and for whether it belongs in a Catholic home.

The source files for many of these works are on Wikimedia Commons, and a local print shop will put one on paper. The difference is in the object: the file, the paper, the ink, and the choosing.

Is the whole painting printed, or is it cropped?

The whole painting, always. We trim only frames, plaques and mounts, never the painting. When a work's proportions do not match a sheet, the image is fitted inside the sheet with an even margin rather than cropped to fill it. That is why the product page quotes two dimensions: the sheet you receive, and the printed image on it.

Why isn't every work offered in every size?

Because the source has to carry it. Each size is offered only where the master file clears a resolution floor at that size, measured from the file itself. A work whose best available scan is 3,000 pixels wide is not sold at 40×60 in, however much we might like to.

Are these limited editions?

No. Each print carries a numbered record of its making, and there is no cap on the number made. A sacred image is meant to be seen in as many homes as will receive it.

Why is the price the same for everyone at a given size?

One price per size, across the whole catalogue. A Fra Angelico and a lesser-known Bellini at 18×24 in cost the same, because the paper, the ink and the labour are the same. The price follows the object, not the name.

What is it printed on?

Archival cotton-rag fine-art paper, printed with pigment inks on a professional fine-art press — the materials chosen for work that is meant to last, and the least a sacred image deserves. Prints are made in or near your own country, which is how shipping stays free in all eight countries we ship to.

Will it fit a standard frame?

The sheet sizes are standard: 8×10, 11×14, 16×20, 18×24, 24×36, 32×48 and 40×60 inches. The printed image inside the sheet may be smaller, with an even margin — which most framers and most ready-made frames treat as a built-in mat.

Do you ship to my country?

See Shipping for the current list. If you are not on it, write to us.

Something arrived damaged.

We replace it and you keep the original. See Returns.