Divine Inspiration: How art has become the best medium to explore faith 

Depictions of what is considered holy have been the topic of artistic inspiration throughout human history. From The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo to the Islamic mosaics that cover mosques. Art has been the medium to convey such ineffable feelings for the past millennia. The urge to document and shape the feelings that faith evokes in works of abstract and realistic method have dated earliest from the 2nd to the early 4th centuries, with the oldest surviving Christian painting found in the Tel Megiddo site just North of the West Bank, dated to the year 70 AD. Even before the spread of organised religion, some of the world’s greatest art has been inspired by some form of cross-cultural spirituality. The Lion-man, as it is known, was carved from a mammoth tusk about 40,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest sculptures in existence; here is the culmination of the collective conscience. The imagination and capacity required to represent the non-existent is proof that some form of spirituality and the artistic renditions of idols have been fundamental to us as humankind. 

Works typical of Denis Foyatier, Antiona Canova and Michelangelo offer something frankly transcendent by way of rendering the tender quality and softness of the human form

Now you may be asking, with the sheer scope of art works, which form suits this subject the most? Immediately the Renaissance and all its traditional oil paintings spring to mind. The intricacies that are pulled out in this era of classical European tradition are the foundation for all artistic movements. Think of the thousands of art students that use the Italian High Renaissance piece The Last Supper to learn the very basics of the realism method. Master copies, which are created when artists carefully observe and copy work deemed to be masterpieces, are encouraged for this very reason. The study of what is deemed holy has been sustained through the works of the era. Though personally, there is something incredible about rendering that beauty in stone. Works typical of Denis Foyatier, Antiona Canova and Michelangelo offer something frankly transcendent by way of rendering the tender quality and softness of the human form from a material as hard and unyielding as marble. It is that juxtaposition which speaks to the celebration of what is holy and why the national monuments such as Christ the Redeemer are the sites of religious festivals year-round. Especially when pieces such as Winged Victory of Samothrace (190 BC) reach such prolific heights despite the artist being unknown. Strands of Buddhist and Confucian art, which inspire the same religious fervour dated to the 10th and 13th century respectively, possess many unidentified artists as the pieces underwent transnational migration. So, the conservation and treatment of tenth century Korean rock-carved Buddha statues, unfortunately, do not stand the same test of time. 

Long-established pieces of art medium take place in in the physical places of worship, imbuing the mundane with inspiration of a contemplation only art can provide

The statues of Jeungpyeong Namharisaji temple site are No. 197 on the list of Provincial Tangible Heritages in Korea, and one of the few Eastern religious art pieces under legal protection. As the UNESCO world Heritage Properties statistics suggest, European and North American properties total 46.85% (573) in comparison to the 24.2% (296) the Asia and Pacific properties and Arab States 7.86% (96). This disproportion fails to encapsulate the thousands upon thousands of artistic impressions that come out of religious awe that is experienced globally. For example, long-established pieces of art medium take place in in the physical places of worship, imbuing the mundane with inspiration of a contemplation only art can provide. These moments of reflection are best seen in the calligraphy that is characteristic of the Islamic Golden Age. The Golden Age is defined as period of scientific, economic and cultural flourishing credited the Abbasid Caliphate 750-1258 CE which stressed the importance of knowledge seeking through the expansion of commerce and trade. As prohibitions against representational images in art are a key factor in the formation of Islamic craft, the use of calligraphy and mosaic flourished in its place instead. The depiction of all living beings only being credited to Allah, it then becomes an affront to attempt recreation. Most evidence for mosaic in the Abbasid period comes from the two holy cities of the Hijaz region, Mecca and Medina, and the adornment of the sacred buildings have used geometry as a cipher for contemplative focus. These arabesques take an alternative look to the standard expression in Eurocentric tradition – one that delves into expressed ideals of order and nature. Persian carpets, for example, have become a staple of modern creative luxury and can be traced back to a religiopolitical craft of weaving. Held in the Victoria Albert Museum, The Ardabil Carpet, a Persian carpet, Tabriz, mid-16th century, depicts floral gardens shaped in a manner that reflects the Islamic symbolism of paradise. And in doing so combines the public act of worship with intimacy – a relegation of artistic appreciation to the domestic sphere.  

Art as it lives and breathes through structured paintings and statutes stands as outstanding markers of culture in tourist locations

Art as it lives and breathes through structured paintings and statutes stands as outstanding markers of culture in tourist locations such as the Sistine Chapel, and is equally divine when balanced with a religious appreciation for the everyday balanced in mosaic tiling and a simple and elegant rug beneath one’s feet. Both compliment each other and what remains unfathomable in the understanding of the divine quite well.