Confronting Our Vanities: ‘Savonarola Preaching Against Prodigality’

Reaching Within: What traditional art offers the heart

“Savonarola Preaching Against Prodigality,” in 1879 by Ludwig von Langenmantel. St. Bonaventure University. Public Domain

With the advent of mass media, more and more of us feel like we need material possessions in order to feel worthy. Others put their self-worth into their politics, and others into their religion. Quite often, however, many of us use these things to condemn others who don’t have what we have or think like we think.

Ludwig von Langenmantel’s painting “Savonarola Preaching Against Prodigality” presents a time in history during which people were encouraged to confront their “vanities.”

Savonarola

Girolamo Savonarola was a 15th-century Italian preacher and religious reformer. He was believed to have prophetic visions, and he preached against the corruption of the clergy. His growing popularity made him a political threat to the papacy, which sought to censure his public sermons.