Thanks for this introduction to him and his work. However, at this stage my art interest has narrowed to the scriptural, which does not seem to coincide with his.
It’s scriptural, but perhaps at second hand. DePaola is constantly echoing the greats of the Italian Renaissance— especially Giotto and Botticelli. You can see that clearly in the illustrations for “The Clown of God” - compare the crowd in the town square to the people that gather around the edges of Giotto’s paintings. And they are first and foremost religious artists.