Beauty is objective, points to God, Catholic artist tells young adults
March 5, 2025 at 2:39 p.m.
Welcoming Catholic sacred art painter and speaker Kate Capato from Philadelphia, the Diocese’s annual young adult retreat March 1 focused on beauty – and how it is not, as is so often claimed, in the eye of the beholder.
PHOTO GALLERY: Young Adult Retreat
“In our relativistic culture, we can hit these walls with words where it becomes ‘my truth’ versus ‘your truth,’” Capato said. “But there’s something about beauty that cuts through that noise.”
The retreat, “Through God’s Eyes,” was in St. Thomas More Parish, Manalapan. The day included a talk by Capato, a meditative sketching exercise and opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration, Confession and Mass. Capato’s husband and ministry partner, Pawel Machura, provided music for the retreat.
Beauty Comes from God
Capato, who was trained in Italy, explored beauty as a transcendental quality. “It is something beyond this world,” she said. “If beauty is an attribute of God, it cannot be subjective.
“Do we have subjective encounters? Absolutely,” Capato said. “But if we start to learn that beauty has an objective value beyond us, we start to see it as a conversation [with] the Father.”
Kate Capato talks about symbology in sacred art and how beauty in these works “cuts through the noise” of modern culture. EmmaLee Italia photoShe said God’s beauty is contrasted with the counterfeit nature of what culture presents. “The evil one doesn’t have his own recipe – he takes the material from the Lord and contorts it.”
Quoting from “Aesthetics” by Dietrich von Hildebrand, Capato said, “Authentic beauty doesn’t draw us into a self-centered pleasure … on the contrary, it opens our hearts, inviting us to transcendence and leading us in Conspectus Dei – before the face of God.”
She talked about how God also uses the beauty of creation to show his love.
“The Lord uses nature to speak to our hearts … it’s all about discerning, ‘Is that of the Lord?’” she said. “[He] uses simple things to reach our hearts, right where we are.”
Combining Art with Love of Lord
Capato paints in the Renaissance style – which appealed to her both for its realism and its treatment of the human figure. She said she felt called to be an artist after admiring the Italian masters, like Michelangelo and Leonardo DaVinci, but she also wanted to strive for sainthood, and she had a difficult time envisioning how to integrate the two at first.
“I knew I loved creating art and I loved sharing about the Lord; for years I felt like it was two different worlds,” she told the young adult crowd. “God brought me into an awareness that … that he wills them to be [united] – and we really need that in our culture today.”
She said she makes a point to pray before she begins painting “so that the Holy Spirit is speaking through it,” adding that this has allowed her to mix her love of creating beautiful art with her calling to evangelize, by asking, “What does he want to communicate through this?”
“When you pray with sacred art … you begin to understand how the Lord is speaking through it,” she said. “It’s not just for decoration, but a call to something larger.”
Seeing in a New Way
Nayeli Franco, member of St. Anthony Parish, Hightstown, found Capato’s talk “very engaging … and the message behind her paintings is even more beautiful,” connecting with the idea “of beauty being … inherent in humanity.”
Capato’s presentation “opened up new ways of seeing and pondering God,” said Seth Tootell, member of St. Isidore the Farmer Parish, New Egypt. “Beauty has a way of bypassing the mind and speaking directly to the soul. It’s one of the ways God gently draws us into deeper communion with him.”
“What struck me most was the way God’s beauty can be seen in a multitude of ways in our lives,” said Maryn Westfall, member of St. Mary Parish, Barnegat. “And that all beauty comes from God … because he has created everything and everyone to be in his absolute image and likeness.”
Victoria Depaolo, parishioner in St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel, took to heart the idea that “we have a society filled with artificial beauty that influences people’s perceptions of themselves. It’s important to remove the artificialness and accept things the way God made them.”
Fellow parishioner Alex Caputi agreed.
“This retreat helped to bring God back into focus,” he said. Something that stood out to him was “the line of ‘beauty is a combo of wonder and order’ and ‘true beauty must reflect truth and goodness’ … God wants to raise us up; we just have to reach out.”
For more information on Kate Capato’s art and ministry, visit https://visualgrace.org/.
Related Stories
Thursday, March 06, 2025
E-Editions
Events
Welcoming Catholic sacred art painter and speaker Kate Capato from Philadelphia, the Diocese’s annual young adult retreat March 1 focused on beauty – and how it is not, as is so often claimed, in the eye of the beholder.
PHOTO GALLERY: Young Adult Retreat
“In our relativistic culture, we can hit these walls with words where it becomes ‘my truth’ versus ‘your truth,’” Capato said. “But there’s something about beauty that cuts through that noise.”
The retreat, “Through God’s Eyes,” was in St. Thomas More Parish, Manalapan. The day included a talk by Capato, a meditative sketching exercise and opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration, Confession and Mass. Capato’s husband and ministry partner, Pawel Machura, provided music for the retreat.
Beauty Comes from God
Capato, who was trained in Italy, explored beauty as a transcendental quality. “It is something beyond this world,” she said. “If beauty is an attribute of God, it cannot be subjective.
“Do we have subjective encounters? Absolutely,” Capato said. “But if we start to learn that beauty has an objective value beyond us, we start to see it as a conversation [with] the Father.”
Kate Capato talks about symbology in sacred art and how beauty in these works “cuts through the noise” of modern culture. EmmaLee Italia photoShe said God’s beauty is contrasted with the counterfeit nature of what culture presents. “The evil one doesn’t have his own recipe – he takes the material from the Lord and contorts it.”
Quoting from “Aesthetics” by Dietrich von Hildebrand, Capato said, “Authentic beauty doesn’t draw us into a self-centered pleasure … on the contrary, it opens our hearts, inviting us to transcendence and leading us in Conspectus Dei – before the face of God.”
She talked about how God also uses the beauty of creation to show his love.
“The Lord uses nature to speak to our hearts … it’s all about discerning, ‘Is that of the Lord?’” she said. “[He] uses simple things to reach our hearts, right where we are.”
Combining Art with Love of Lord
Capato paints in the Renaissance style – which appealed to her both for its realism and its treatment of the human figure. She said she felt called to be an artist after admiring the Italian masters, like Michelangelo and Leonardo DaVinci, but she also wanted to strive for sainthood, and she had a difficult time envisioning how to integrate the two at first.
“I knew I loved creating art and I loved sharing about the Lord; for years I felt like it was two different worlds,” she told the young adult crowd. “God brought me into an awareness that … that he wills them to be [united] – and we really need that in our culture today.”
She said she makes a point to pray before she begins painting “so that the Holy Spirit is speaking through it,” adding that this has allowed her to mix her love of creating beautiful art with her calling to evangelize, by asking, “What does he want to communicate through this?”
“When you pray with sacred art … you begin to understand how the Lord is speaking through it,” she said. “It’s not just for decoration, but a call to something larger.”
Seeing in a New Way
Nayeli Franco, member of St. Anthony Parish, Hightstown, found Capato’s talk “very engaging … and the message behind her paintings is even more beautiful,” connecting with the idea “of beauty being … inherent in humanity.”
Capato’s presentation “opened up new ways of seeing and pondering God,” said Seth Tootell, member of St. Isidore the Farmer Parish, New Egypt. “Beauty has a way of bypassing the mind and speaking directly to the soul. It’s one of the ways God gently draws us into deeper communion with him.”
“What struck me most was the way God’s beauty can be seen in a multitude of ways in our lives,” said Maryn Westfall, member of St. Mary Parish, Barnegat. “And that all beauty comes from God … because he has created everything and everyone to be in his absolute image and likeness.”
Victoria Depaolo, parishioner in St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel, took to heart the idea that “we have a society filled with artificial beauty that influences people’s perceptions of themselves. It’s important to remove the artificialness and accept things the way God made them.”
Fellow parishioner Alex Caputi agreed.
“This retreat helped to bring God back into focus,” he said. Something that stood out to him was “the line of ‘beauty is a combo of wonder and order’ and ‘true beauty must reflect truth and goodness’ … God wants to raise us up; we just have to reach out.”
For more information on Kate Capato’s art and ministry, visit https://visualgrace.org/.