Art that enhances prayer may be representative or symbolic.
Representative art
Before the faithful was literate, scenes painted on church walls or ceilings or shown in stained glass windows and statues were used to remind the people of Bible stories and saints. Crucifixes and Stations of the Cross did the same.
Images were never meant to represent gods themselves or objects to be worshipped although some stories in the Old Testament tell how that was once the case. The golden calf that the Israelites made and worshiped while wandering in the desert is one example. The prophet Ezekiel challenges the people of his time to show that their idols were anything more than clay.
The iconoclasts worried that Christians were treating their statues and art as idols and destroyed much religious art in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The illuminations used in the hand-written Bibles before the printing press – and again in the Saint John’s Bible – were meant to illuminate the text. The pictures were meant to shed light on the meaning of the text.
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How would you describe your preferences in church art? At St. Dominic’s in Northfield there is no crucifix except during Mass. There is, however, a cross which one child described as a plus sign. I like that. Christ is a real plus in my life. It also reminds me to keep a positive attitude. There is only one statue, in the back. Some parishioners greatly miss the reminder of the saints. There are also no stained glass windows with scenes from the Bible.
Although our modern churches are beautiful in their simplicity, they don’t give me the feeling of being in God’s presence as much as the older churches with their beautiful statues of Mary with a bouquet of flowers before Her, or a statue of Our Lord looking down on His people. Although I know they are just statues and I keep my eyes closed while praying so not distracted to be distracted, , it is kind of nice to look at Jesus on the crucifix, not only during Mass but upon entering church.