Relationship Between Art and Religion

Since the earliest times humans sought to give meaning to the mystery of life and death through religious and spiritual beliefs. This need manifests itself through rituals, celebrations, and the creation of artefacts and temples. Discuss the role of art in this aspect of human life.
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Humans have since the very earliest time of their existence questioned various fundamental facts about their existence and the world around them. They have tried to answer the mysteries of life such as how they came into existence and what happens after their death. These questions they discovered could be only answered through religion and science. Religion went about explaining that all things were there because of some greater spiritual being which brought everything and everyone into existence. Religion especially during ancient times put God as the master creator of all things and beings, having created men on all other creations. The average person doesn’t usually think of art as something that influences religion yet in true facts art helps us visualize our beliefs since as humans we at times find it easier to believe that which we see. Even in the Bible we find that humans have made sculptures, statues and paintings of their god in order for them to have something that reminds them of that greater force and act as intermediaries between them as moral beings and God as a divine spiritual being. For example Early Christians used the fish as a symbol of God which is now replaced by the symbol of the cross; Ancient Egyptians who worshipped numerous god’s used a falcons head as a symbol of their sun god Ra, and Muslims with the symbol of a moon and star. In Ancient Greece it was customary for artists to represent the Olympian deities in perfectly-modelled men or women because they believed that the god’s were somewhat like humans but in perfect form and