Disciplines
• Art
• Art History
Historical role of art: Art has played
a central role in religion, both in expressing
religious ideals and challenging religious
assumptions. For two millennia Christians
have used art to influence and spread the
Christian message, using artwork to visually
express moral or spiritual mores. The appreciation
of art in Renaissance times was often an attempt
to appreciate God. That is, artists attempted
to depict beauty in nature and in man, to
celebrate life and creation.
Artists such as Michelangelo
and Leonardo da Vinci later came to believe
that ugliness communicated truth better
than beauty. Their painstaking recreations
of "regular" people - some depicted
in anguish - conveyed a spiritual value
in realism that spurred artists and others
to learn more about the human body, leading
to study of anatomy and medicine.
Orthodox Christians have
long used colorful painted icons to depict
a sense of religious understanding that
could be passed on through generations.
Icons became an essential part of the Church's
survival in spite of purges during Communist
rule in Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe.
Icons of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the apostles
and saints are central to the Orthodox faith.
Orthodox believers do not worship the images,
but contemplate the deeds and spiritual
natures of those depicted. Orthodox Christians
also believe icons - painted on wood or
canvas - reflect a central Christian belief
that in Christ, God became part of the physical
world and sanctified it. They offer a way
to teach about the faith visually, in a
language that crosses racial or ethnic boundaries.
In Islam, it is forbidden
to depict God and the prophets - including
Muhammad, believed by Muslims to be the
most recent in a line of prophets - as well
as animals. This has forced a stylistic
difference in the evolution of Islamic art,
one that has stressed geometric shapes and
colors rather than animated life.
The ban arose out of concern
that images of Muhammad or other religious
figures could lead to idolatry and detract
from worship of Allah. (The Ten Commandments
of the Jewish and Christian faiths contain
similar prohibitions against "graven
images.") But there are also differences
among Muslim practice. Experts say Shiite
Islam has fewer issues with portraying Muhammad;
more conservative strains of Sunni Islam
in some cases prohibit portraying any form
at all. Art or décor in mosques or
Muslim homes is often simple words of the
Koran written in calligraphy.
A 19th-century American
art trend featured beautiful and serene
natural landscapes intended to inspire awe
and communicate the presence of God and
his creative powers as manifested in the
natural world.
Understanding the history
of art in religion helps a person understand
how art interacts with religion. Because
it plays such a vital role in cultural development,
it is worth studying the role it plays in
contemporary society as well to see how
it changes beliefs, attitudes and values.
Religion has also had a large impact on
art, from sculptures of ancient Greek gods
and goddess to Renaissance masterworks -
religion has provided both a subject and
an inspiration to create.
Cultural Differences:
What is good art? The critic concerned with
aesthetics might define that differently
than someone who judges art based on its
moral value. News is regularly made about
protests by those who believe that art violates
sacred religious or ethical principles,
and it stirs up passions on all sides of
the issue. Religious literacy, as well as
a sense of literacy in the area of art appreciation,
could help bridge gaps of understanding
and context.
Artists often seek a place
where humanity and transcendence come together.
They may struggle with their beliefs and
explore their fears, the dogma or perceived
contradictions through art, intending to
pose questions or provoke thought. This
ay incite more conservative representatives
of a religious tradition to protest, particularly
when traditional religious values are challenged
or confronted in an unorthodox way.
Examples include recent
violent and deadly demonstrations that erupted
over European newspaper cartoons depicting
Muhammad as a terrorist. The depiction of
Mohammed alone was offensive to many Muslims
and showed how freedom of expression has
the ability to offend large groups. Experts
say reaction was mostly to how Muhammad
was portrayed and existing tensions, as
likenesses of Muhammad have long been displayed
in the collections of some of the world's
greatest museums and libraries without exciting
alarm or reaction.
Chris Ofili's multi-media
work, "The Holy Virgin Mary,"
caused controversy in the United States
by showing the Virgin as black, with a three-dimensional
breast made from a ball of elephant dung.
The piece outraged some Catholics, who saw
it as a defacement of the Virgin. What many
did not know was that Ofili himself was
Catholic, and that he chose to draw upon
his African roots to represent his idea
of the Virgin Mary, using the elephant dung
that symbolized fertility and the Earth
in his culture.
Art's role in religion:
What was largely missing in these controversies
was dialogue, a major focus of the Center's
work. Research partnerships with those who
study conflict management, for example,
might help artists who want to do their
best work while still making sure that reaction
doesn't overshadow meaning.
Both art and religion have
more in common than in disagreement, particularly
a need to describe the world or parts of
the world. Though they do it in different
ways, both search for meaning and are themselves
a vehicle for expressing what is found.
Art is a way to experience answers to questions
about life and existence, though not all
religions value experience in the same way;
some tend to put more emphasis on the mind
and philosophical thought rather than expression.
Artists also have the ability
to work within paradigms or explore new
ones. While this might be of offense to
some from more conservative traditions,
art can be a way to show religious communities
that new ideas and paradigms are not a threat
to their belief system but rather an exercise
in living.
Art also gives expression
to spiritual experience and belief. It is
a way to make those things that are believed
but not seen take on reality, be seen, digested,
understood and shared in a common visual
language. Art and religion also tell people
about themselves. One example is the many
ways that Jesus is depicted in art. Images
have changed over time, reflecting shifts
in theologies, historical research and the
ethnicity of worshippers. Religion scholars
say Christians tend to project themselves
- both in belief and likeness - onto their
savior, so new portrayals of Jesus are likely
to present current themes in the faith.
Issues today: One
of the Center's goals is to highlight how
religion interacts with other disciplines
so that we can understand this process and
find ways to make it a better experience
for society as a whole. Research in the
areas of education and training can help
further this aim. Researchers may want to
look at the role that religion has played
in art and art in religion, and how they
both reflect and create the society in which
we live.
They could study how pieces
of art deemed religiously controversial
in their day have become mainstream because
faith interpretations have changed - or
actually were responsible for changing views
about faith through dialogue. Researchers
could look at whether personal faith impacts
an artist's subjects, or how faith influences
non-religious subjects. They could also
study the movement that looks at creating
(art) as a way to honor the "master
Creator," studying people's beliefs
about why they create and how it fits into
their religious beliefs or world view.
Journal
of Ritual Studies
Image:
A Journal of the Arts and Religion
Religion
& the Arts
Material
Religion
Journal
of Religion & Film
American
Academy of Religion Syllabi Search
Religion,
Art and Visual Culture
Brent Plate
Texas Christian University
Religious
Architecture and Islamic Cultures
Prof. Nasser Rabbat
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Iconoclasm
and the Image
Prof. Mia M. Mochizuki
Jesuit School of Theology and Berkley
Art
and Religion in China
Prof. Paola Demattè
Rhode Island School of Design
Artists,
Shamans and Cosmology
Thomas Peterson
Alfred University
Art,
Religion, & Material Culture in America
Douglas L. Winiarski
University of Richmond
Myth,
Religion and Art
Dr. Monica Dominguez
University of Deleware
Association of Muslim Social Scientists of North America
Christian Academics
Christians in the Arts Network
Christians in the Visual Arts
Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship
• See a full list of professional associations and resources here.
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