One of the overwhelming experiences of the trip was the art. Sculptures, statues, paintings, tapestries – you name it, we saw it. In Roma, especially the Vatican Museum, Sistene Chapel, & Basilica of St. Pete’s, you couldn’t walk more than 10 feet without seeing something, somewhere that just took your breath away.
It got almost humorous, & we had a fun time with it. In one hall (out of many) where several hundred sculptures and statues were stored, we found sign describing just who/what the statues were supposed to be of… the sign said, “This is someone or something.” Good times.
Thinking about art – (and, by the way, I know how generally I am speaking here. bear with me…) and how these various expressions made by people, often in the name of God, for buildings where God is worshiped, to bring glory to God. It sems that artistic, creative, expression has largely been lost in the church. Like there’s no place for the art & the makers of art within the church anymore. As a result, artisans display their wares in studios & exhibition halls. The art has become degradingly self-indulgent, ala Romans 1 & the NEA… makes me wonder. It’s not like I have a bunch of answers to this – just a lot of questions, like:
Does this one look familiar? It’s Artemis/Diana (from our trip through Ephesus & the Monday Morning Church…) Seeing this statue brought back a wave of emotion – remembering God’s intersection of humanity in Ephesus, & how this same God is at work in our little valley, working through us for the same purpose.
My blog just switched to “beta” version – sorry for any inconvenience… Here is a comment that Georgia left, but couldn’t post:
Your blog’s visual verification is messed up and won’t allow me to comment, so here’s my comment:
As I think about God’s nature as revealed in creation, it seems to me that God (the ultimate artist) is everywhere creating beauty.
I think that we, being created in His image, could use that as a value in judging art.
To me, if art is degrading or somehow ugly, deliberately celebrating ugliness or death, then perhaps it’s in the image of someone other than God, if you know what I mean. After all, wasn’t Lucifer described as an artistic/musical being?
A lot of what I see/hear in contemporary art seems to me to be inspired to degrade and to create an image that celebrates death, darkness, etc.
I think the church would have to take a stand against contemporary cultural trends in promoting art that glorifies God.
This impacts not only art that we create but how we dress as an expression of cultural art (fashion), what we listen to/view/read in popular media, and so forth…
What are we really saying when we dress in ways, fill our eyes and ears and souls with images that glorify death, vileness, sensuality, and so forth? Who are we emulating? What are we saying about the image of Christ that is supposed to be created within us?
Great pics. I will not show the last one to The Man as I am sure it will only, once again, distract him for the rest of the day. LOL
I took a humanities class recently and was seriously beside myself after researching mosaics. Who has this kind of time. Who was the guy that saw a bunch of broken glass and ceramics on the ground and thought “hey, look a lion” or what have you. Amazing.