Father John B. Giuliani started a career in art in early adulthood, but his calling to the priesthood took precedence. He entered St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts and was ordained in 1960. He also earned Master’s Degrees in Theology, Classical Studies and American Intellectual History.
Fr. John taught at the high school and college levels for a number of years, and in 1977 established The Benedictine Grange, a small monastic community in West Redding, Connecticut. It was there that once again he pursued his artistic abilities.
In 1989, Father John was inspired to paint icons. He studied under a master painter of Russian Orthodox iconographies in New York before turning to American Indians as his subject. His work integrates Lakota, Hopi, Cheyenne, Navajo and other tribal members in traditional dress into the formal, timeless style unique to the icon form.
Father John intended that his work celebrate the soul of the Native American as the original spiritual presence on this continent, thus rendering his images with another dimension of the Christian Faith.
