J.D. Visits the Vatican

Painted in the days surrounding Vice President Vance’s visit to the Vatican and the sudden passing of Pope Francis, J.D. Visits the Vatican captures a moment where politics, symbolism, and human fragility collide. Halford translates the turbulence of current events into the language of expression and gesture: a single nun’s worried face becomes the emotional register of an era unsettled by power’s proximity to faith. The composition is restrained yet charged, a quiet stage where reverence meets apprehension. Through subdued tones and luminous tension, Halford reflects on how even sacred institutions tremble under the weight of worldly interference, suggesting that holiness and havoc often coexist within the same frame.