AdobeStock_by Mistervlad
By Katie Eskro
For as long as recorded history goes back, humans have been creating works of art. Some art, like cave drawings, has withstood the test of time even longer than the remains of the humans who made them. We can guess that from the very beginning, even from Adam and Eve and their immediate descendants, humans were creating things of beauty for no other end than to tell a story and make something meaningful.
Art has a long history and is part of what it means to be a human. These days, we tend to call art only that which a professional has created. However, in reality, we all have an innate need to create beauty and, most especially, to enjoy the beauty of artwork. Whether it’s the way we color alongside our children, or hang their pictures attractively from our fridge, or decorate our home for the holidays, all of these actions can be traced back to our impulse to create.
Art as teacher
Within the tradition of the Catholic Church, we see this tendency from the very beginning of Judaism and Christianity to create works of art that display a deeper meaning. According to Al Costanzo, art teacher at O’Gorman High School and an artist himself, “Sacred art has been used since the earliest days of the Church to educate and inspire the faithful, predating the Bible.”
Art plays a unique role within the Catholic Church. Walk into any Catholic church and you will see a crucifix behind the altar, you will see the stations of the cross, and, likely, you will see statues of Mary and the saints—perhaps some painted pictures as well.
“Sacred art serves as outward visual signs that lift our minds to God,” Al says. “As we enter a Catholic church, we need these physical signs to remind us that we are in the presence of the Most High God, from whom all beauty comes. Good sacred art can educate us and accompany us on our Catholic Christian journey. Much of what we know, we learn through seeing.”
As Aristotle is often famously quoted as saying, “Do not give to the mind what you do not first give to the senses,” art is one way we can receive through the senses (our sight) to see a deeper and more full catechetical and relational meaning of our faith.
Dr. Jason Heron, assistant professor of theology and philosophy at Mount Marty University in Yankton, says, “Christians use sacred art to draw the mind and heart toward the persons and the work of the Trinity. So, Catholic churches display sacred art as an aid to worship, contemplation and ongoing conversion.”
Dr. Heron also notes that a lot of Catholic art tells us a story, whether the history of salvation or about the life of one of the saints. All of these stories can be an aid to us on our own spiritual journey.
“[S]acred art invites the viewer to become another character in this long story of the Lord’s love affair with creation,” Dr. Heron says. “It has functioned both as an expression of worship and as an aid to catechesis; it’s a material expression of who we are as a people, in all our sinfulness and our holiness.”
Art in the home
Catholic homes also tend to be places where we display sacred art. Many people choose to have sacred art as a part of their home not only because it is beautiful, but also because it draws the mind and heart to God. “To believe our faith is to ‘be living’ our faith, and sacred art in our homes can continually direct our hearts back to God,” Al says.
We should choose artwork with this in mind. If it draws us in with wonder and intrigue, it may be just the piece that would be perfect for our living spaces. “If a Catholic thinks a piece of sacred art can help them become more like Christ, then that Catholic ought to consider displaying it in the home,” Dr. Heron says. “This goes for all art, really. If it draws us out of ourselves toward the goodness and beauty of God and creation, then we ought to display it.”
When choosing art for your home, Al encourages us to “choose pieces that are significant for you, such as images from Scripture passages or saints that have impacted you throughout your life. Prioritize beauty in whatever artwork you display, whether it’s sacred or secular.”
For Dr. Heron, beauty is the defining factor that indicates a piece of artwork is worthy of a place in your home. “All beauty comes from the Trinity, so I would make no distinction between sacred art and any other kind of art. The Lord’s loveliness is shining everywhere. And we are so desperate for beauty, so I don’t think we should artificially limit our access to it by insisting on only one type of art.”
Aid to prayer
No matter where we encounter a piece of art that intrigues us and draws us in, we can turn our intrigue into prayer. “Art can be an aid to prayer, a prompt to thanksgiving, and an invitation to worship,” Dr. Heron says. “It can inspire contemplation. It can provoke wonder.”
By allowing the experience of wonder to overtake us, we can turn our minds and hearts to God and remember his love and closeness to us.
“Sometimes, it is easier for us to see how we fit into God’s salvation narrative as we look upon an image as opposed to a written word,” Al says.
“When we encounter beauty, Christians should be in the habit of expressing their gratitude for it,” says Dr. Heron. “Whether you’re a person who can sit for extended periods in contemplation, or a person who needs to do things more actively, art can be an occasion for drawing your attention away from yourself and your worries and toward the mystery of God, life and salvation.”
Although it is now normal practice for Catholic churches and homes to display sacred art, the Church went through a period of time where art was seen as dangerous due to the possibility of idolatry, and churches were swept clean of it.
In some churches, murals were even painted over or a curtain was hung in front of them. We call this iconoclasm—the rejection of art as helpful to our faith journey. Our Protestant brothers and sisters continue to believe in the danger of works of sacred art, and for this reason have very few statues or religious pictures in their sacred spaces and homes.
Dr. Heron sheds some light on this historical phenomenon within the Catholic Church, and it’s worth noting. “The images might distract us, they might encourage magical or superstitious practices, they might be an affront to the Creator, whose beauty is beyond anything we can paint or sculpt. Iconoclasm is not an insane idea,” Dr. Heron says.
“But the Christian response to iconoclasm is reasonable on Christian terms,” Dr. Heron continues. “The second Person of the Trinity became a human person in Jesus of Nazareth. He presented himself to us in a form we could see, touch, smell, hear and taste. He did not consider his divine status too glorious to become one of us. So, we can represent him. It’s okay. It makes sense. So, we proceed to make our sacred art, loaded with images of the divine, without fear.”
Laws of beauty
After all this discussion, it is important to consider beauty and what it means for an art piece to be beautiful.
“Contrary to popular opinion,” Al says, “St. Thomas tells us that beauty is not in the eye of the beholder. Something that is beautiful resonates with a truth and harmony that we can identify with universally. A beautiful sacred artwork points towards the reality of our world and directs us back to our Lord, the ultimate creator.”
St. Thomas Aquinas proposed three conditions for how to judge beauty. Although everyone can innately sense the beauty of a scene or art piece, the more we can hone our skills in understanding what makes something beautiful, the more we can recognize and appreciate beautiful art forms.
“Aquinas’ qualifications for beauty are recognizable by all people, though they may not be able to articulate them,” Al says. “We see a vibrant sunset and can appreciate the beauty in wholeness, harmony and radiance.
“In order for us to better recognize beauty in an artform,” he continues, “we need to better understand the elements and principles of the given artform. Architecture, sculpture, painting and literature are all different artforms, each with their own set of standards. The better the art appreciator is at identifying the parts, he or she can begin to recognize patterns and start to explain why an artwork is beautiful as opposed to simply stating that it is beautiful.”
This article isn’t long enough to go into each art form and their standards, but learning and considering Aquinas’ three laws or conditions of beauty is a good place to start. The three conditions he notes in the “Summa Theologica” are: 1) integrity or perfection; 2) proportion or harmony; and 3) brightness or clarity.
Integrity or perfection is about the wholeness of the piece. Al contends this is akin to a choir having all the parts present: soprano, bass, alto, tenor. “This is the completeness of an artwork,” Al explains. “Are all of the necessary parts present to make the artwork whole? The story should have a beginning, middle and end.”
Proportion or harmony is how the individual parts work together to form the whole. “The elements of the artwork must work together to complement one another,” Al says. “The painting can use a balance of lights and darks to create a clear focal point.” Al gives the example of the twin spires on the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Sioux Falls. “[They] mirror each other, without one being any taller or shorter,” Al says. This makes them complement one another rather than compete with one another.
Brightness or clarity is all about what the art piece is speaking to us. Is it illuminative, shedding light on some truth or happening in our life? “The artwork resonates with something in reality that we know to be true,” Al states. Beautiful artwork always points us toward truth and goodness.
Becoming sensitive to beauty
Beauty is all around us—nature, our relationships, our homes, our churches. We are naturally inclined to recognize beauty, but we can hone our skills.
“Humans are truth, goodness and beauty receptors,” Dr. Heron says. “We are always searching for them. We are always hungry for them. And when we receive them, we can recognize them.” In this way, Dr. Heron says we don’t necessarily “need to read Aquinas or take an art appreciation class in order to appreciate the beauty of art. We are, by nature, beauty receptors.”
“But we can improve our reception skills,” Dr. Heron continues. “When it comes to truth, goodness and beauty, we have a native ability that can be trained toward mastery. This is what we think a scholar is—someone who has great skill in pursuing the truth. It’s also how we talk about saints—someone who has great skill in pursuing the good. So, when it comes to beauty, it would make sense to experience the same dynamic. We can become more and more attuned to beauty.”
There are many ways to become more receptive to beauty using art and sacred art. The number one way to become more receptive and grow in recognizing beauty is simply to expose yourself to it. It doesn’t have to be a class or a thick book, but simply take in good artwork and give yourself time to gaze on it and ponder its meaning.
There are countless historically famous sacred art pieces whose copies can be purchased quite inexpensively. There are also many modern Catholic artists who are creating new masterpieces. This presents many possibilities for ideas of art you could purchase for your home.
As an artist himself, Al gives special insight into what it is like to be a modern Catholic artist. When creating a new work, Al says: “I am always considering first, what do I intend to communicate through my artwork and how it might highlight some aspect of beauty in the observed world around us? I feel like I am contributing to the awareness of a saint or Scripture passage. It is said that beauty is the point of the spear of faith, and I hope I can ‘poke’ a few people with my art.”
For myself personally, I enjoy buying smaller pieces of art from modern artists that I display on my own, depending on the liturgical season. I also enjoy displaying historical pieces from time to time. For me, switching out what I have in my home makes it catch my eye more often and draws me into the liturgical season we are in.
Both historical and modern sacred art can have a special place in our homes. “As with modern translations of the Bible, we need new styles of sacred art to emerge,” Al says. “However, we should never turn away from the tradition of the Church and the artwork that has brought us to where we are today.”
Regardless of the art that speaks most to each of our souls, what is special about sacred art is that it always points us to God. “Art becomes sacred art when its form and/or its content becomes an opening to the mystery of God, life and salvation,” Dr. Heron says. “Art is a midwife that helps the viewer give birth to a new and deeper perspective on the beauty of reality.”
Katie Eskro is a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Aberdeen, where she works as coordinator of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. She has a degree in journalism and is pursuing a master’s degree in philosophy.
