Christian art includes all visual artworks that are intended to show and illustrate the teachings in Christianity. This includes sculptures as well painting, metalwork and embroidery. Since the fourth century, Christian art played an important role in Western Art’s development and history.
Christian art’s main subject has always been Jesus Christ, his followers, and the events in the Old Testament. These artworks show the images of various beliefs and traditions and the world as it appears. The oldest known evidence of Christian art dates back to the 3000BC-500AD period. It consists of some ceiling and wall paintings of the 2nd Century in Roman catacombs (underground burial rooms). These walls and ceilings were decorated using a style derived largely from Roman impressionism in the 4th century. These records are important in demonstrating some aspects of Christian subject material. Early Christian art dates back to the beginnings of Christianity. The cross, doves, fishes, lambs, crosses, and symbols of the Four Evangelists are some early Christian symbols. In the Catacombs at Rome, the first identifiable representations of Christian characters appear. These symbols show the development of Jesus’ depiction. There are many famous art styles from the Medieval period, including Gothic and Byzantine. One of the most distinctive and longest-lasting Western ears of art, the Byzantine was unique. It was well-known for being vibrant, varied, and more emotional than any other art style. Gothic art got its complex style from Saint Thomas Aquinas’s philosophy at his university, which taught that every object in the universe is a part of God’s plan. Medieval religious artwork flourished through the Byzantine Iconoclasm. In medieval times, religious artworks were most often depictions or Holy Figures, such as Jesus Christ, Mary, or saints.
Byzantine Iconoclasm – which refers to the destruction icons – was criticised by artists for using Christian figures as pagan gods. Any artworks depicting saints, angels or other persons were taken by the Iconoclasts who destroyed or confiscated them from medieval churches. These were considered sacrilegious. However, the Iconoclasts didn’t have anything against art that was not religious. Artists started to abandon Christian subjects in order not to cause controversy and instead created art peacefully. The Renaissance is a period of art that spans the 14th-17th centuries. It was an artistic bridge between the Middle Ages, modern history, and the Renaissance. Mannerism is perhaps the most well-known form of Renaissance. Mannerism is an art style that portrays its subjects in a graceful, light way. High Renaissance Art flourished for about 35 years. It was created between the early 1490s, when Rome was taken by imperial troops.
The brief High Renaissance (1490-1520), which saw Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo transform Catholic art. They broke with the traditional iconography and created original compositions that were based on both artistic imperatives and Renaissance humanism. The Age of Enlightenment was a time of new appreciation for art. It led to more commissions from non-religious nobles for non-religious artworks. The Enlightenment was a Western philosophical movement in the 18th-century that further obscured Christianity’s essence. The Enlightenment was a positive view of human potential and perfection that challenged fundamental Christian views.
The Enlightenment promoted a view on human autonomy and the use rationality in seeking truth. Enlightenment philosophers believed that reason could be used to interpret supernatural revelations such as those contained in the Old & New Testaments. Reason challenged the authenticity of these scriptures through historical and literary criticism. It is no longer necessary to rely on priests’ worldviews about essential Christianity.
