NTD Original

30/01/2025

In this captivating episode, we explore how cutting-edge medicine is revolutionizing the way we understand and treat three major challenges to brain health: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and long COVID.

This episode is a must-watch. Join us!

06/12/2023

Michelangelo’s “Pietà” depicts the Virgin Mary mourning Christ. The focus is on Mary, whose calm, solemn face reflects her unwavering faith despite her profound loss. Michelangelo’s mastery of light and shadow further enhances the emotional depth of the piece.

The most tragic sight imaginable is a mother who has lost a child. Witnessing such a thing, most shrink from the searing sense of loss, the emptiness of bereavement. Yet when Michelangelo unveiled his “Pietà”—the image of the Virgin Mary mourning the lifeless Christ—he revealed how sorrow c...

06/12/2023

Eric Genuis, a pianist and composer, has dedicated his career to bringing his music, which communicates hope, to places without hope, such as rehab centers, prisons, and inner-city schools. His foundation, Concerts for Hope, furthers this mission.

There was a gang member who had been in prison all his life, who said he’d never once cried in all his years. He’d buried his mother, he’d buried his father, and he saw the door to his future close when he was sentenced to be locked up for decades, maybe the rest of his life. But then, in pris...

05/12/2023

British painter Frederic Leighton's "Elijah in the Wilderness" portrays an angel caring for the prophet Elijah in the wilderness. Warm, muted colors create a tranquil scene, and may suggest that true tranquility comes from a rest found in selflessness.

05/12/2023

Sant's painting "Courage, Anxiety, and Despair: Watching the Battle" depicts three women embodying these emotions while observing an unseen battle. It’s an introspection on our personal struggles and the sources of these struggles often remain hidden.

‘Courage, Anxiety, and Despair: Watching the Battle’ A repeated theme throughout art history is the Three Graces. The Three Graces were goddesses from Greek mythology. Initially, they were goddesses of nature, but later, they attended Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. They were usually ...

30/11/2023

The NTD International Figure Painting Competition aims to promote traditional fine arts with the theme “pure truth, pure kindness, pure beauty.” Artists like Sandra Kuck, Clodoaldo Martins, and Philippe Lhuillier shared how the competition’s mission influenced their work.

Award-Winning Oil Paintings Now Available to Public Through New Online Store The NTD International Figure Painting Competition is unique among the art competitions of the world. That it only judges representational styles is rare enough, but the competition also places focus on content and meaning,....

30/11/2023

Chinese calligrapher Liu Xitong, persecuted by the CCP for his faith, fled to the U.S. He was featured in the documentary "When the Plague Arrives," writing a Chinese idiom meaning "When chaos is extreme, order must be restored."

When Liu Xitong was asked by a film crew to write four words in Chinese calligraphy, he agreed immediately, heartily, and for reasons the crew did not yet know. Once a famous calligrapher back home in China, Liu had since left the country where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecuted him for hi...

29/11/2023

19th-century French symbolist painter Gustave Moreau sought to infuse spirituality into art, countering the scientific approach of 18th-century art, and he studied Renaissance masters. His painting "Perseus and Andromeda" depicts the Greek myth about beauty, love, and courage.

Reaching Within: What traditional art offers the heart Gustave Moreau was a 19th-century symbolist painter in France. The symbolists believed that the art of the 18th century was too scientific and had discarded spirituality from its subject matter and ex*****on. Artists also found themselves compet...

29/11/2023

French romanticist painter Théodore Géricault aimed to create emotionally charged art, depicting the human spirit’s hope in horrific circumstances. He suggested that beauty lies not in order and structure, but in the struggle and hope for survival as in his painting “The Raft of Medusa.”

Reaching Within: What traditional art offers the heart During the 19th century, at the height of the Enlightenment, neoclassicists and romanticists debated the purpose of art. The neoclassicists looked back to ancient Greece and Rome for guidance. They were concerned with reestablishing order and st...

28/11/2023

20th-century American painter, Norman Rockwell, depicted the nuances of American life in his art. His "Golden Rule" painting, uniting diverse figures under a compassionate statement, emphasizes our shared humanity and promotes kindness.

Reaching Within: What traditional art offers the heart Recent events concerning the death of George Floyd have unleashed anger across the United States. Peaceful protests are being conducted, but unfortunately, these are often overshadowed by the looting and rioting of a few instigators. Everyone is...

28/11/2023

"Paradise Lost," a 17th-century epic poem by John Milton, explores the conflict between God and Satan. William Blake's 19th-century illustrations for "Paradise Lost" depict this narrative, with a unique interpretation of the Son casting rebel angels into Hell.

As we come close to the middle of 2020, I’m left asking “What else will happen?” It’s been an eventful year so far, to say the least. I’ve been thinking deeply about the events that have occurred this year, and I believe the time is ripe to reflect on ourselves and question what it means t...

27/11/2023

The painting "St. Augustine" by Philippe de Champaigne suggests that confession, an act of love, requires self-reflection and honesty, and that God's grace, the essence of love, is revealed in the act of confession.

Reaching Within: What traditional art offers the heart It’s interesting how our vices lose strength when they are brought out into the open; they gain power when they’re hidden in the dark spaces of our spirit. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I see to be my own vices and how I should deal ...