Art is the best way of expressing religious ideas

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Art is the best way of expressing religious ideas.

Religious ideas such as morality, time, faith and love are difficult to understand, so are portrayed through abstract mediums including art, literature and music. I believe art (painting) is the best way of expressing religious ideas, for two main reasons.

First, art’s medium is superior for conveying religious concepts to other media. Art harnesses our inbuilt sense of sight. Although other media use similar senses, they require more interpretation: a baby can identify a portrait’s images, but cannot read words in a book: art is more accessible.

This is useful for religious paintings because most were painted when the majority were uneducated. Art was easy and simple for them to understand, and taught them major religious ideas without their reading religious texts.

Another important feature of art’s medium is the ability to attract attention. While other media could be considered tedious, art is eye-catching and draws one into the painting, and thus the religious idea behind it. An example of this is Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus, in which an unidentified figure rises to catch a falling fruit basket.

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This represents the viewer, and is a way Caravaggio draws one into the portrait, where they can learn about the story he wished to portray: the supper at Emmaus.

Furthermore, a painting’s background helps draw the viewer in. In Cima da Conegliano’s portrait The Incredulity of St. Thomas, arches are used in the painting. When I visited the National Gallery. I found the painting was placed at the end of a corridor lined with similar arches. As one approached, one was naturally compelled to study the portrait, for the eye was drawn to it by it’s integration into ...

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