Amy Jackson- Christian Art

In taking this class, Religion and the Arts, we explore the relationship between religion and art. We discover the beauty of art and the beauty of the divine. While reading "Sacred and Profane Beauty," Van der Leeuw says there is no "religious " art. Now when I read this I was, as you might be also, quite confused. I began to ponder the different types of art. Now I definitely have seen art that does not appear religious at all. In fact, there is
a lot of anti-religious art. Here's one for example:












Van der Leeuw goes on to quote Maritain by saying, "If you want to make Christian art, be Christians, and seek to make a beautiful work, in which your entire heart lies; do not try to make it Christian" (336). If art is imitation of God's creation, then this makes sense. However, if the artist is not a Christian, is the art still Christian? Does the intention behind the art effect the way people view it? Lets say that a non-religious person creates a beautiful landscape painting. Is this Christian because it exhibits creation? What about a photograph?












Maritain also says, "Everywhere where art-whether Egyptian, Greek, or Chinese-has attained a certain level and a certain degree of purity, it is in expectation already Christian, because all spiritual radiance is the promise and image of the divine weighing out of the Gospel" (336). According to Maritain, the art, not the artist, is the deciding factor of "religious" art. True religious art is art that does not have to include symbols or common religious images in order to convey the divine.