Portrait of the Most Reverend Bishop James R. Hoffman Sixth Bishop of Toledo

This posthumous portrait of Bishop James Hoffman, who died in 2003 at the age of 70, was dedicated at a memorial Mass on the second anniversary of his death and adorns the Bishop’s Chapel of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo, Ohio. During the unveiling ceremony, Bishop Leonard Blair, successor to Bishop Hoffman, stated, “this truly beautiful portrait is worthy of this magnificent cathedral, it is worthy of this historic diocese, and it is worthy of Bishop James Hoffman.” The work, painted in the classical realist style of the artist in keeping with the manner of the previous five bishop’s portraits, took over a year of research, planning and execution. The inspiration for the composition was derived from Bishop Hoffman’s own unique crest, which contains an open book and the Bishop’s motto, Omni Omnibus, Latin for “all things for all people,” as depicted in the New Testament. Objects of significant personal importance are carefully placed within the portrait as symbolic representations of Bishop Hoffman’s legacy.

Exhibitions