Art and Religion across Time and in Modern Society

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Introduction

At only first glance, this artwork of Andres Serrano is seen to be very provocative and blasphemous. This controversial artwork is a photograph of a 13-inch crucifix being submerged into a yellow liquid, which is implied to be urine as the title would suggest, and it is most likely to be his own. For many, the Piss Christ became a symbol of the secular assault and hatred against the Christian faith as it is said to be an act of dishonoring their Lord. Many viewers were outraged when Serrano was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which is in turn funded by the taxpayers, for that particular artwork. In fact, Serrano received $15,000 from the NEA in 1987 and the artwork was exhibited in some art galleries. Serrano received several death threats after the “Piss Christ” work, and it was widely condemned, maligned, and censored by authorities. On the other hand, some claim that the art world was being attacked by Christians who had rarely seen art as having importance. There was a campaign to ban the artwork from acceptable art as it may inspire other artists to push the limit even further. What was their main idea and motivation for Serrano? That question was actually being asked to him and he responded by saying that “Piss Christ” was meant not meant to be merely provocative, but an act of devotion. The message that he tried to convey is he, a Christian artist, is making a religious artwork based on his relationship with Christ and The Church (Moore, 2017). The crucifix is a tarnished symbol that has lost its meaning. In simple words, it is a symbol of the crucifixion of a man who was tortured and left to die for several hours until all of his bodily fluid come out of him. The urine is not what Serrano did to Christ, rather it is what Christians did to Christ over centuries of commercialization of religion to make money. People may agree or disagree with him, but how can anyone find his artwork as merely obscenity and disrespectful? By perceiving it from the right angle, maybe there is a moral value that could be seen and could be regarded as good Christian art. The question that remains is; to what extent is art relevant in religion?

I. Art in Religion across time

Sometime in the 17th century, important art or the only art that mattered was religious art. After that, there were very few contemporary art pieces that were considered both art and religion. Do religion and contemporary art not make a good match? Or is it still used for religious purposes just like during the renaissance ages? Indeed, religion and art have been inseparable for millennia. The relationship between religion and art dates back to the dawn of civilization. This can be proven by the discovery of “the lion man” or the Loewenmensch Figurine in German Caves in 1939.

Carbon dating puts the production of the half-lion, half-human sculpture as far back as 38,000 BC (Museum, 2013), which is about 35,000 years before the existence of Hinduism, the oldest surviving religion in the world. In fact, Lion Man is the oldest known evidence for religious beliefs which suggested that believing and belonging have a deep history crucial to human societies long centuries ago (Cook, 2017).

The ancient Sumerian Cuneiform is also one of the first forms of artistic representations of religion, as the writing was largely used to document the Sumerian belief system and the detailing of religious records. For instance, the Cuneiform was used to document Xerxes I’s inscription at Van (present-day Turkey) which glorification of Ahura Mazda, the most supreme deity in Zoroastrianism. Sumerians were also the first to use art in religious manuscripts, as was in the Epic Gilgamesh, the first literary work in the world (Waters, 2014).

It wasn’t perhaps until the emergence of Hinduism that art began to be used to beautify religion. This can perhaps be proven by the production of the Epic poem Mahabharata which often came with artistic renditions and depictions of the events and epics detailed in the poem. Like Sumerians, Zoroastrians, and Ancient Egyptians, Hindus used art to tell stories, as well as adding a degree of beautification to the artworks to increase the interest and regard for said stories. The Epic of Mahabharata is one of the most revered religious scriptures in the world and is largely attributed to the authorship of Vyāsa, an apparition of the god Vishnu (Das, 2018). The vivid depiction and epics detailed in Hinduism Art also helped distinguish between different apparitions of a certain God (i.e. Vishnu’s pure form, and his apparitions as Vyāsa and Rama from the Epic of Ramayana).

II. Art in contemporary religions

Perhaps influenced by ancient religions such as Hinduism and the Sumerian religions, the use of certain techniques to depict divinity began to be used by certain contemporary religions. Early Christian Art, for example, lacked the technique and skill in the art that was already mastered by Hindu artists. It was not until the adoption of Christianity by Roman Emperor Constantine the Great that Christian Art began to reach new heights in the use of mosaic art, which became a staple in churches and cathedrals to this day. Mosaics, explored in the Western Roman capital of Ravenna, can perhaps be credited with the large iconography later associated with Christian art. A comparison of pre-iconography early Christian art, and the iconographic artworks that followed the emergence of mosaic art.

Fig 8: Mosaic art of the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus

Fig 7: Pre-Constantine Early Christian art did not focus on specific figures such as the Virgin Mary and/or Jesus Christ

It can also be noted that the technique and production quality of the artworks have starkly increased, and some techniques to show divinity can be seen, such as the golden circle, or halo; behind the heads of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus, which would become one of the key features of religious iconography as the years progressed. It is also a technique that stood the test of time, being used by prominent Renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci as well as modern artists.

Iconography became prominent in several other religions including Hinduism and Buddhism. Iconography also exists in Shia Islam, whereby the rest of Islam otherwise opposed it strongly, and associated it with idolatry. Paintings in Sunni Islam used halos as divination as well, but rather to hide the faces of the images in question, rather than to highlight certain characters as done in Christian art. In Shia Islam, however, iconography is not as frowned upon as it is in Sunni Islam. Most famously, a portrait of Hazrat Ali or Sayidina Ali r.a. was popularly painted to describe the physical appearance of the divine character in Shia Islam. This was completely against aniconism which is firmly applied in Islam.

Fig 9: An illustration of the Mi’raj done by Sunni artists from the Ottoman Empire. The figure in the center, of the Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h, has his face veiled

Fig 9 & 10: Images of Hazrat Ali, or Sayidina Ali r.a as drawn and depicted by Shi’ite artists. The Shi’ite artists made no effort to hide the face of Ali and used divination methods such as the halo to glorify his image

Sunni Islam believers prohibit iconography as they associate it with the imitation of God’s creation, as stated in several hadith, which includes one which was compiled by Muhammad al-Bukhari, where Aisha (the wife of the Prophet) narrated:

“I bought a cushion having on it pictures (of animals). When Allah’s Apostle saw it, he stood at the door and did not enter. I noticed the sign of disapproval on his face and said, ‘O Allah’s Apostle! I repent to Allah and His Apostle. What sin have I committed?’ Allah’s Apostle said. ‘What is this cushion?’ I said, ‘I have bought it for you so that you may sit on it and recline on it.’ Allah’s Apostle said, ‘The makers of these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them, ‘Give life to what you have created (i.e., these pictures).’ ‘ The Prophet added, ‘The Angels of (Mercy) do not enter a house in which there are pictures (of animals).’

· Sahih al-Bukhari, 3:34:318, 7:62:110

There is also a concern amongst Muslims that iconography can lead to idolatry. Idolatry is described as the association of God with any other deity or being and is considered the greatest of all sins in Islam. To avoid the worship of Muhammad p.b.u.h, Muhammad himself had prohibited pictures of himself and his sahaba from being painted to avoid them being placed in a divine position, or on equal footing with Allah. The concern does have its basis, though, as the continued use of Iconography indirectly and inadvertently gave birth to iconoclasm.

III. Criticism of Iconography and subsequent decline of Religious Arts

Iconography, especially in Christianity, did come with its own set of criticisms. Most famously was perhaps the criticism of the representation of Jesus’s physical traits. In most mainstream representations, Jesus is shown as having white skin, blue eyes, and blondish brown hair; very akin to a Caucasian. There are some who argued that considering the region that Jesus and his disciples were born in, and the fact that he was a Hebrew, he was likely to have had curly hair, and darker skin. One of the most famous of these arguments was made by social reformist Malcolm X, in the 1950s, as documented in his autobiography said that “the Honourable Elijah Muhammad teaches us that the images of Jesus placed on prison walls and churches around the world are not historically correct, because history teaches us that Jesus was born in a region where people had color… I’m simply proving to you that Jesus was not (white)”. His claim was then supported with an excerpt from the Holy Bible, in Revelations 1:14 which said:

Revelation 1:14-16 King James Version (KJV)

14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many glasses of water.
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

The excerpt, which detailed the physical traits of Jesus Christ, described him as someone with hair like wool, and feet like brass. This was a point of argument for some who said that Jesus had skin color comparable to brass, which is reddish brown. This was of course different from the skin color of the Caucasians and much different from the depiction of Jesus in iconographic art. Hence, this became a point of criticism towards iconographic art as nothing more than a political and social effort to subtly place the white man at the top of society, by associating religious figures such as Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary as white, whilst none of the figures, including Jesus’ disciples were people of color.

There is some truth in this, as demographically speaking, it would be the most reasonable judgment to say that Jesus had physical traits similar to the Hebrews who were from Nazareth (where Mary was from). It was noted in the Bible that Jesus is born in Bethlehem, but Mary, and later on Jesus, was from Nazareth. Both of these locations are 100 miles apart, but still in the same region, that being The Levant. People of the Levant had physical traits similar to Arabs and Jews, which had a complexion slightly darker than Caucasians, and had curly hair and brown eyes. This is contrary to mainstream depictions of Jesus which had physical traits similar to Caucasians. This is perhaps motivated by certain political figures to provide the association between God and the white population.

As seen in this painting by Galyna Shevchenko, Jesus had pale white skin, blue eyes, and long straight hair Malcolm X, who openly and vocally criticized the misrepresentation of Jesus in paintings claimed that the action had political leanings, and said that it was meant to reduce the esteem of persons of color all over the world. He claimed that the white man did so not only through Jesus, but also through his disciples, to subtly show superiority and closeness to God as opposed to other races. This was relatable perhaps to the racial climate of the time, where religion was used to keep the African American society in line and art was one of the tools used to ensure it. Malcolm stated that the white man promised them the “pie in the sky” for being “good negroes”, a term which insinuated a degree of inferiority towards the African American society, because, he went on to note, “the white man was having his pie here” (8). In short, iconographic art, especially Christian iconographic art was seen as a tool that was used by the white society of the time to suppress other races into thinking of them as the superior race.

Was Malcolm the first to comment on this? Criticism towards the representation of Jesus Christ in art existed for a long while and counterclaims to his race existed as early as during the emergence of Islam. Islam, believing Jesus as one of the prophets, claim that during the Mi’raj, the Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h had seen Jesus during the Night Journey. Most accounts of this claim the Prophet Muhammad had described him as “a man with reddish complexion” while others state that Prophet Muhammad described him as “a man with brownish complexion”. (9)

A 2001 study conducted by Richard Neave produced a different look of Jesus, which combined the use of forensic anthropology and knowledge from the New Testament to produce the image. The result was very different from images of Jesus produced by renaissance artists across time. (10)

The shorter hair attributed to Jesus in the study is further supported by an excerpt from the New Testament where Paul the Apostle criticized the act of having long hair for men. The excerpt, from 1 Corinthians Chapter 1 Verses 14 through 16 (1:14-16) states:

14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man has long hair, it is a shame unto him?
15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
16 But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

Hence it can be seen that there is a lot of evidence to support the claims made by Malcolm, which could suggest the presence of manipulation of religion on behalf of certain figures. However, there exists a counterargument to this stance. The church may have used imagery similar to the local races in the area so that it would have an increased appeal to people. The view is that the race of Jesus does not matter and that his message reaching more people is the ultimate aim. This view is supported by the portrayal of Jesus as different races in iconographic art from different regions. For instance, in China, Jesus is painted as having a more Asian structure and slanted eyes, similar to the local demography in China. In Egypt, where the Coptic church exists, Jesus is portrayed in Coptic Art as being more akin to the locals in Egypt. Such is also the case in several other countries. The claim perhaps suggests that it just so happens that the western world has the most Christians and hence has the most popular rendition of Christ, the man with long light brown hair, blue eyes, and white skin.

Further support for the mainstream look of Jesus can also be attributed to the existence of the Shroud of Turin. The Shroud of Turin, although never formally endorsed or rejected by the Catholic Church, had been approved by two Popes, Pius XII and John Paul II as being in association with the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. The image from the Shroud of Turin, which is believed to be the shroud used to bury Jesus after the crucifixion, is in line with many of the renaissance paintings that were produced and opposed the other renditions produced of the face of Jesus Christ.

The decline of iconography began perhaps through the Baroque movement, which in itself was pioneered and engineered, ironically; by the Catholic church. This was done in response to the simplicity of Protestant architecture (11). It can be seen as an attempt to further the influence of the church on the art world, as had previously been done in the Renaissance Era. Iconography in the Renaissance Era was predominantly Christian, especially in Europe where the Renaissance age took place. This marked the end of the widespread and dominant use of iconography in the art world.

As time moved on, more and more art movements such as the aforementioned impressionism, expressionism as well as pop art. The latter became a means to scrutinize iconography and gave birth to the perversion of religious figures through manipulating iconography, marking the birth of iconoclasm.

IV. Wealthy patrons used Renaissance art for powers

Art during the Renaissance Ages hugely contributed to the development of the relationship between art and religion. Many works of Renaissance art depicted religious images, such as Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary, through the advancement in the technique of representing the human body realistically. Undoubtedly, several great artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Donatello arose in this era. Much of the art produced during the Renaissance was commissioned by the wealthy merchant families of Florence, most notably the Medici family (Editors, 2019). Their funds produced such masterpieces as Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Donatello’s bronze David.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, religious art was used in a number of ways. Other than hoping to inspire greater devotion to religion, patrons of the art bought numerous amounts of art to create awe and respect towards their wealth. Perhaps this was the initial point where art and religion did not intersect. It cannot be denied that the religious art during this era helped many people in understanding the stories related to religion, but later on, the patrons began to use the greatness of these artworks to build up powers and compete among themselves. The Church became less of a holy symbol, and more of a machine to help ambitious men up the ladder of political power and influence (Murray, 1985). This can be proven when the Borgia and Sforza families, who presided over the Papal States and Milan, both contributed huge funds to the society but used art as propaganda (Cohen, 2018). Leonardo da Vinci worked for both where he created the famous The Last Supper for the Sforza family. Both families similarly hired artists to construct statuary and building in their honor.

Indeed, it’s hard to deny the patron’s money contributed to awe-inspiring cultural advances and the development of art. It is even harder to deny the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, where they change the main purpose of religious art, or traditional art, to their personal political agenda. Above all, changes in patronage have meant wide changes in the nature and function of art, specifically religious art.

V. Impressionism: a break away from religious art

Sometime in the 1870s, a group of artists started the impressionism movement as a reaction against the rigid rules of traditional painting (Rathbone & Shackelford, 2001). As religious paintings tend to be controversial, this art movement wanted to break away from the traditional style of painting. The key artists in this movement were Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Impressionists aimed to capture the momentary or depict the essence of the subject by using distinctive brush strokes. Impressionist painters break the traditional style by introducing objects in everyday life rather than historical, religious, and classical painting.

The artwork Poppy Field by Claude Monet was one of the famous impressionism arts where he brilliantly used brush strokes to create a blurry effect, adding to the dreamy and abstract mood. The technique of ever-changing light and vibrant colors used produces an ephemeral quality of the subject. This movement perhaps had become the primary influence of fauvism, famously known as wild beasts. Most importantly, the bold colorization of the Fauves had a large influence on expressionism style and numerous artists going forward (Isaak, 2017). Mainly, these painting styles give the artist more freedom in painting and break away from controversial religious art.

VI. Iconoclasm in religious arts

The image and iconography of Jesus are nowadays often used in controversial and insensitive fashion, often for comedic purposes.

· Iconoclasm, a destructive hatred of religious art, has recurred throughout the centuries whenever a reform movement led by fanatics attempts to remove anything visually appealing from a religion. It often does irreparable cultural damage by separating people from their traditions

As shown in the above images, the iconographic imagery of Jesus has spawned renditions of it made for comedic purposes, some by Christians, and some by non-Christians. This understandably creates offense to pious Christians who view it as a mockery of their Lord, whilst non-believers of Christianity do not see the sensitivity and view it as harmless comedy. Iconoclasm can be described as “the action of attacking or assertively rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions or established values and practices” (obtained from Google). Iconoclasm was perhaps most fiery during the Byzantine era when Leo III imposed a ban on religious imagery, which resulted in the removal of said imagery from churches and cathedrals. This was believed to have possibly stemmed from his desire to integrate Muslims and Jews, who were believers of aniconism into their society.

In the modern era, to “destroy” or “assertively reject” a religious image can mean beyond the physical destruction of the paintings, pictures, or artifacts, but the desecration, degradation, and devaluation of its holy status. This can be seen through the pictures above, where imagery of Jesus Christ, the most important figure in Christianity, is made into a joke or used to spread sentiments regarding the commercialization of religion. One could say that this is caused by iconography which enabled mass production, and hence an eased identification of religious characters like Christ, but modern iconoclasm is not restricted to just iconographic religious art.

One of the greatest controversies involving iconoclasm was done by the French media outlet Charlie Hebdo, which produced satirical magazines with the image of the Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h. The production sparked a massive worldwide outrage amongst Muslims, and several terrorist attacks followed. The cover, which attacked Islamic Fundamentalism used iconoclasm toward Prophet Muhammad to spread their message. The cover is stated in French, “100 lashes if you don’t die laughing” which is perhaps a jab towards Sharia Law.

Comparing the outrages sparked by religions that use iconographic art and religions which are anachronistic, anachronistic religions are more intolerant towards the perversion of their divine characters. This is perhaps understandable because the visual representation of their religious figures is at all prohibited, much less a mockery of it. But the connection does exist, that iconography did indeed spawn iconoclasm, as the iconoclasm of iconographic figures occurs way more often, and modern iconoclasm, which involves desecrating and degrading religious figures, is in itself a distorted form of iconography. Iconoclasm, and the abuse of iconography for political reasons, is perhaps the reason for the decline in iconography in the modern era.

Conclusion

It is undoubtedly that visual arts play a very large relevance in religion. Throughout the eons, many religions have used art to tell stories, pay tribute, as well as use beacons for worshipping. Whether they be sculptures of idols, paintings of epics, images and mosaics of divine figures, or calligraphy, art has been impossible to detach from religion. Its relevance goes beyond the mere representation of certain characters, but a representation of the convictions and beliefs of the religion. For instance, the veil over the face of the Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h describes the belief in aniconism in Islam, which opposes the idolatry of divine figures, as it is viewed as a form of association with God.

In other religions than Islam, the most popular form of art is undoubtedly iconography. Iconography has spawned its fair share of controversy, whether it be political or social, there are some strong claims about the invalidity of some uses of iconography. However, it cannot be denied that iconography is all the same and very relevant to the religions of this world, ancient or contemporary. In some religions like Hinduism, iconography is a core aspect of their religion, and the use of sculptured idols is pivotal in Pooja or the devotional worship of one or more deities.

To sum it up, arts is indeed a crucial mainstay in religion, whether it be in a positive or negative aspect. It is something we see every day and is a part of our lives as believers of religion. Whether it is the calligraphy of Allah’s name in mosques, mosaics of Jesus and the Virgin Mary in churches, Symbolism in synagogues, or idol sculptures of Vishnu in temples, visual arts play a large role in religion, and its relevance is tantamount to the very practicing of said religions.

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