Art in Religion



Art in Religion

Introduction

Religious art is the one related to any belief, worship or ritual associated with divinities, or supernatural forces beyond whose function is to promote piety and fervor of the people and facilitate their worship. Art history has been inextricably linked since the earliest beginnings of religion. In this sense, the concept of religion include not only large universal beliefs (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism) but a whole spectrum of magic cults and superstitions that have affected both primitive and civilized peoples.

The main manifestations of religious art spanning the field of architecture (temples, basilicas, cathedrals, synagogues, mosques), sculpture and painting (pictures of deities, saints and prophets, alone or as scenes inspired most times in the sacred texts), engraving, thumbnails (medieval Christian manuscripts) and the decorative arts, that is, religion has permeated in all times art history and has been a major source of inspiration.

Religious Art

Religion and art in their historical development not just interact, they penetrate into each other, intertwined with each other, merged, forming the peculiar phenomenon of cultural history. We denote the merger of both by the term religious art. A work of art cannot be attributed to the religious art because of its theme, plot, images borrowed from religious mythology. From the art of the peoples of Europe, we know a lot of paintings, sculpture, literature, which are used in individual stories and images of biblical mythology, but its ideological orientation and the outlook is far from Christianity. For example, sculpture by Michelangelo, or the image of Christ in the painting Archaeology. In describing the religious art are two crucial points: first, the overall ideological direction of the work and, secondly, its place in the system of religious worship. Accordingly, the religious art can speak in two senses: broad and narrow.

Religious art, understood in the broadest sense, includes those works in which the means of art expressed in religious ideas and aspirations. It includes works with a religious orientation to instill in people the idea of the omnipotence of the deity, the need to worship him and keep his commandments.

In a narrower sense to the sphere of religious art include those works that are included in the system of religious worship and perform certain functions in it. In other words, religious art in the narrow sense it is a cult that is church art. Of course, it is obvious that every religious art has a religious ideological orientation. However, the cult of religious art and more specific sense, as appears as an object of worship (the icon in the church), or a means of realizing the cult of action (organ music, choir singing, etc.).

Functions of Religious Art

Religious art is included in the system of worship, and it is multifunctional in nature. Any work of art does the system of religious worship are two different and largely contradictory functions. First, specifically religious, cultic function because it excites the religious images, ideas, emotions, renews and strengthens religious beliefs, and often serves ...