Chilworth Abbey’s Cultural Conversations: Mornings & Evenings of Enrichment presents:

Spiritual Dimensions to the Aesthetic Response: Antonello Da Messina’s The Virgin Annunciate
A Talk with illustrations by Fr Raphael Daley at St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth

What are we to do when we come face to face with Beauty? How might our response to religious art deepen our aesthetic sense and enhance our understanding of the sacred? We consider the small but hugely powerful painting by the Fifteenth Century master Antonello Da Messina.

How contemplating the image can be both a gateway to a rewarding aesthetic experience of the beautiful and possibly change the way we live.

About our Speaker:

Father Raphael Daley is at present resident at Chilworth Abbey. His Theological studies at Durham University, Blackfriars, Oxford and the Pontifical Atheneum of Sant’Anselmo in Rome were augmented by graduating from the Academy of fine Arts in Rome in Painting and History of Art.

Date & Time: Saturday 8 November 2025, 10.30am-12.20pm
Venue for the talk: The Assisi Room, at the rear of St Augustine’s Abbey, Chilworth, near Guildford
How to finds us:  click here 
Free car parking
Tickets: £10 (booking fee applies) — Advance booking essential (no tickets available on the door)
Duration: Approx. 1.5 hours, including coffee and tea
Capacity: Only 30 places available — book early to avoid disappointment

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All proceeds from the talk will support the Benedictine monks and their work. Thank you for your support. 

Image of The Virgin Annunciate. Image credit: Antonello da Messina, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons