Ottonian architecture and culture overlaps considerably with Romanesque art, a term which in practice describes a new European-wide style of Christian architecture. It was the first great church-building campaign, initiated by Rome and by the new Christian Orders of monks, which included Cathedrals, abbeys, and parish churches. (In the UK, Romanesque is known as Norman architecture.) Romanesque architecture was inspired largely by classical Roman designs, and was characterized by a new monumentality, marking the growing stability of the age and the renaissance of European Christian culture after four centuries of darkness.
Russian art of the 19th century produced some outstanding works of Christian painting. Leading painters included: the Ukrainian Anton Losenko (1737-73), Professor of History Painting at the St Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts (see his Renaissance-inspired works Miraculous Catch and Abraham's Sacrifice); and the influential Alexander Ivanov (1806-58), whose works included The Appearance of Christ to the People (1837-57) a huge canvas which took 20 years to complete. Later in the century, several members of the Itinerants group produced some remarkable Christian paintings, characterized by a unique spiritual intensity. They included: The Last Supper (1863) by Nikolai Gay; The Raising of Jairus's Daughter (1871) by Ilya Repin; Christ in the Wilderness (1872) and Laughter ("Hail, King of the Jews!") by Ivan Kramskoy; Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (1887) by Vasily Polenov. Christian Gifts
What does the Bible say about creativity? The very first verse of Scripture actually describes a creative act as "God created the heavens and the earth." Additionally, from Genesis, the Bible says, "God created man in his own image." This could be interpreted as we are creators just as God created us. We create relationships, art, homes, cities, nations and many more things including inventions even yet to be known! The creative spirit is certainly favored by God and our fellow man. Learn more from the collection of Bible verses about creativity below! Christian Canvas Art
Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. ...
Since its beginnings during the first century of the Roman Empire, Christianity has spread around the world to become the principal religion, value-system, and social agenda of mankind: at least until the 20th century. Run first by Christ and the Apostles, it gradually gave birth to its own hierarchical organization, the Christian Church, which over time became the largest and most influential patron of the arts. Indeed, from the outset, the Christian Church used many different types of art in order to create an identity for itself, increase its power and thus attract worshippers. In the process it developed its own Christian iconography, relying heavily on architecture (cathedrals, churches, monasteries), sculpture (statues of the Holy Family, as well as prophets, apostles, saints), painting (altarpieces, church murals), decorative art (stained glass, mosaics) and illuminated manuscripts (Gospels, psalters). In fact, during the early 16th century, the Church commissioned so much Biblical art - using money raised through higher taxes, and the 'sale' of benefices and indulgences - that it led to widespread protests: protests that coalesced into the Reformation, and the division of the Church into Roman Catholic and Protestant. Even so, one can say that, in the West at least, the history of art is the history of Christian art. Share Your Faith Products
Probably the most spectacular form of Christian painting was the church ceiling mural painting (called quadratura), often executed with trompe l'oeil illusionist effects. This decoration of vaulted/domed ceilings of churches began during the Renaissance in Italy. Renaissance examples included: the Sala delle Prospettive fresco (c.1517, Villa Farnesina) by Baldessare Peruzzi; and the Assumption of the Virgin (1524-30) by Correggio, which decorated the domed ceiling of Parma Cathedral. Christian Gifts
He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat; one cherub at the one end and one cherub at the other end; he made the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at the two ends. The cherubim had their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward each other; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.
Much of the art surviving from Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire is Christian art, although this in large part because the continuity of church ownership has preserved church art better than secular works. While the Western Roman Empire's political structure essentially collapsed after the fall of Rome, its religious hierarchy, what is today the modern-day Roman Catholic Church commissioned and funded production of religious art imagery.
Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. ... Christian Gifts
Fewer churches meant less sculpture and less ecclesiastical decoration. But some new works did appear, such as Christ the Redeemer (1926-31), the huge soapstone statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. Designed by Heitor da Silva Costa, and sculpted by Paul Landowski, it is the largest Art Deco statue in the world. Other noteworthy pieces of modern Christian sculpture include: Tarcisius, Christian Martyr (1868, Musee d'Orsay, marble) carved by Jean-Alexandre-Joseph Falguiere; Genesis (1929-31, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester) and Adam (1938, Harewood House), both by Jacob Epstein.
Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes.” The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt. Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy. And I found the book of the genealogy of those who came up at the first, and I found written in it: ... Share Your Faith Products
For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood, the lintel and five-sided doorposts. So he made two doors of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. So also he made for the entrance of the nave four-sided doorposts of olive woodread more.
Until the legalization of Christianity in 313, early Christian art was relatively scarce. It included fresco painting on the walls of some of the catacombs (burial sites outside the city walls), and "house-church" meeting places; a number of simple architectural designs for structures (martyrium) erected over the graves of martyrs; and a number of sarcophagi, carved with various emblems or reliefs of Jesus, Mary and other biblical figures. In these early times, when Christians were still being persecuted, most Christian Roman art remained (literally) part of an underground culture. What's more, Christianity (along with the imagery used to symbolize or illustrate it) was still evolving from a secret society (whose images were intelligible only to the initiated few) to a public organization (whose imagery was understood by all). Thus, to begin with, Christian painting and, in particular, early Christian sculpture used motifs from both Roman and Greek art: the image of "Christ in Majesty", for instance, derives from both Roman Imperial portraits and portrayals of the Greek God Zeus. It took centuries for Christian iconography to be standardized, and to harmonize with Biblical texts. Christian Canvas Art
The rapid rise of Arab power during the 7th century and the consequential economic difficulties suffered by the Byzantine Empire, led to a reappraisal of Arab culture and Islamic art. During the 8th century (726-787) and the 9th century (814-842), this culminated in two "Iconoclasms", when a ban was imposed on all figurative artworks. This went down very badly with Byzantine mosaicists. Many emigrated to Rome who were firmly opposed to Iconoclasm. Others, paradoxically, went to Arab cities where they produced some of the finest ever abstract mosaics. See, for instance, those in the Islamic Dome of the Rock (688-91, Jerusalem) and the Great Mosque (715, Damascus). Scripture Art