Art and the Roman Catholic Church

Art and the Roman Catholic Church have ties that go back to the simple foundation of Christianity itself. Through the beginning of the 1st century through modern times, art has played a crucial role for the church and it’s 2.1 billion person following. Art has been used to portray events in the history of Catholicism as well as to convey the message of the Bible, the Christian religions most valued source of information. Artistic styles have varied throughout the years, taking on a gothic look after the era of the Byzantine Empire, the Romanesque style of architecture, diving into forms of art such as theatre and poem, art and the Catholic Church have been tightly associated for centuries. Before the relationship between art and the Catholic church can be expressed, the term “art”, must first be defined. St. Thomas Aquinas (c.1225-1274) relates art and religion by sharing that, “The knowledge of God is to all creatures what the knowledge of the artificer is to things made by his art.”i The influential philosopher brings together a comparison of the mystery of faith and ties it to art. The meaning of his quotes is to address the level of God’s knowledge in a way where people will understand. He does this by comparing God’s knowledge to that of an artist, how no one knows exactly why things are the way they are besides the artist, therefore the exact purpose is left to interpretation. Because art has been around longer than written word has, it gives a special insight to the earliest periods in the time of the Catholic church. The oldest form of art found in Christianity is dated to the early 2nd century, where sculptures were found on Roman coffins.ii These coffins would usually depict Christian symbols such as the fish, the cross, or the dove, and only be recognizable to fellow Christians due to the vast amount of persecution amongst the Christian religion. These symbols are seen as the earliest forms of art and Christianity. Many Christian beliefs are