Father JOHN BATTISTA GIULIANI (Painter of Native Americans)

Asked to explain his decision to portray the faces of the sacred as Native Americans, Giuliani explains: “As a Catholic priest and son of Italian immigrants I bear the religious and ethnic burden of ancestral crimes perpetrated on the first inhabitants of the Americas. Many have been converted to Christianity, but in doing so some find it difficult to retain their indigenous culture. My intent, therefore, in depicting Christian saints as Native Americans is to honor them and to acknowledge their original spiritual presence on this land. It is this original Native American spirituality that I attempt to celebrate in rendering the beauty and excellence of their craft as well as the dignity of their persons.“ John Giuliani, the son of Italian immigrants, developed an early interest in drawing which led him to study art at Pratt Institute in New York. Soon his religious calling took precedence, and he was ordained as a Catholic priest, temporarily putting aside his art to give his life to the