3 ms·

I don't quite understand the problem here. Art comes from a culture, and there are different cultures. Some are secular, others not so much. They all produce ar

by yason 12y ago

I don't quite understand the problem here. Art comes from a culture, and there are different cultures. Some are secular, others not so much. They all produce art. Good art is good art, regardless of the background. It might open up in a different way for a person who shares the cultural or religious context but that's just one way to look at it and that doesn't mean other views would get any less. I fail to see why would anyone disregard a beautiful fresco just because Christians paid the artist to paint it for them. It's not exactly as if the fresco would try to convert its audience.

tragic 12y ago
I don't think many people would, really; but I certainly remember becoming a militant atheist at the age of 6, and resenting every encounter with a hymn or a christmas carol for most of the rest of my school days. I needed to take a long detour through black metal before I could appreciate sacred music (and while I appreciate the importance of Renaissance art to the development of human culture, I find still that there are only so many paintings of Jesus and martyred saints I can look at consecutively before my eyes glaze over). So I can certainly imagine there being people out there, like my 8-14 year old self, who really don't like religion to the point that they can't appreciate religious art at all. If the subject matter really does set your teeth on edge, you're not going to appreciate the beauty. Art isn't just a thing; it's an interplay between the thing and the viewer/listener etc. If there's no open port on the receiver, the message won't get through.
- hga 12y ago
  "I find still that there are only so many paintings of Jesus and martyred saints I can look at consecutively before my eyes glaze over" Heh, that I can believe. Fortunately there's a lot of other sacred visual art to view, for example, look at the many depictions of the archangel Michael over the years in the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_(archangel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_(archangel) One thing I find very interesting about these works is the application of a society's current aesthetics in depicting a figure from a fixed, much earlier time.

by yason 12y ago

tragic 12y ago

I don't think many people would, really; but I certainly remember becoming a militant atheist at the age of 6, and resenting every encounter with a hymn or a christmas carol for most of the rest of my school days. I needed to take a long detour through black metal before I could appreciate sacred music (and while I appreciate the importance of Renaissance art to the development of human culture, I find still that there are only so many paintings of Jesus and martyred saints I can look at consecutively before my eyes glaze over). So I can certainly imagine there being people out there, like my 8-14 year old self, who really don't like religion to the point that they can't appreciate religious art at all. If the subject matter really does set your teeth on edge, you're not going to appreciate the beauty. Art isn't just a thing; it's an interplay between the thing and the viewer/listener etc. If there's no open port on the receiver, the message won't get through.

hga 12y ago
"I find still that there are only so many paintings of Jesus and martyred saints I can look at consecutively before my eyes glaze over" Heh, that I can believe. Fortunately there's a lot of other sacred visual art to view, for example, look at the many depictions of the archangel Michael over the years in the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_(archangel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_(archangel) One thing I find very interesting about these works is the application of a society's current aesthetics in depicting a figure from a fixed, much earlier time.