# Which Christian art do you think has been the most influential?



## tabrooks (Aug 23, 2011)

Which Christian art (painting, drawing, cinematography, etc) do you think has been most influential (for Christianity and/or the world)?

I'm gathering ideas for a project and would appreciate any ideas you have. 

If you desire, you may also answer this question: which Christian art has been most influential for YOU. 

Thanks!


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## Hamalas (Aug 23, 2011)

What about literature? Or are you only thinking of the visual arts?


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## Jack K (Aug 23, 2011)

Architecture. Most notably in the building of houses of worship. In our approach to church buildings we have shown and cemented in the cultural mindset what we believe is important.


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## Rufus (Aug 23, 2011)

Jack K said:


> Architecture. Most notably in the building of houses of worship. In our approach to church buildings we have shown and cemented in the cultural mindset what we believe is important.



Yup, architecture has been very influential, most people can recognize a church when they see one.


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## tabrooks (Aug 23, 2011)

Ben,
I'm thinking more of the visual arts. thanks!


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## GulfCoast Presbyterian (Aug 23, 2011)

I would have to say DaVinci’s The Last Supper and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes, since they are the first two things that come to my mind. Raphael (sp?) had a couple of "madona" type paintings that I distinctly remember, but I can't tell you the names. Other than those, I am drawing a blank.


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## PuritanCovenanter (Aug 24, 2011)

That is a hard question in my mind because of the idoloatry issue. But I would have to agree that the Last Supper painting is probably the most prominent. That one along with The Good Shepherd. Then their is the statue of David which truly isn't King David by many factors. Francis Shaeffer does some good work in this area.


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## Claudiu (Aug 24, 2011)

If we're talking about all of church history, besides architecture I would say that icons and sculptures have had the most influence on people because of the amount of time they've been around and their use in the Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox Church.


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## tabrooks (Aug 24, 2011)

Joshua said:


> Influential for _good_ or for _evil_?



Joshua,

Great question. Actually, either way (for good or for evil).


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## Tim (Aug 24, 2011)

I believe the most influential has been the classic "portrait" of Jesus Christ, with purely Caucasian features. I am not sure which artist is responsible for creating this look, but I think we all know to what I refer. However, this is a NEGATIVE influence. Even Christians (such as myself) who understand how this violates the 2nd Commandment struggle to remove this image from the mind. 

The second most influential may be Michelangelo's _Creation of Adam_ painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Also a NEGATIVE influence, this has done great damage by encouraging us to visualize God as an older man with a white beard. As before, I resent the struggle that this causes for the Christian who wishes to honor God by not making an image of Him in the mind.


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## Rufus (Aug 24, 2011)

Tim said:


> Michelangelo's Creation of Adam painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Also a NEGATIVE influence, this has done great damage by encouraging us to visualize God as an older man with a white beard.



Ya, I heard an argument against Christianity saying that it's false because you can't see God with his bear and sitting on a throne in the sky.


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## Theogenes (Aug 25, 2011)

Rembrandt.


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## JennyG (Aug 25, 2011)

Theogenes said:


> Rembrandt.


as a good or bad influence?

I would take his paintings any day over any of those great blousy, overblown "religious" canvasses of the Italian Renaissance


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## Eoghan (Aug 27, 2011)

I am unclear if you mean for the good or the bad? Moody & Sankey (?) altered our hymn books, John Wimber has had impact too and in most UK churches the adoption of Mission Praise followed the Luis Palau crusades. How am I doing? I think "Why Johnny Can't Sing Hymns" put it neatly when the author was challenged at seminary by a colleague who said he would influence his church more by the music than the sermons. I am currently watching this play out. I observed the leader of the "praise band" telling the pastor he could now preach. The balance of power seems to have tipped in favour of choruses - after No 1000 because in the latter addition to the hymn book (Mission Praise) it is almost pure Hillsong et. al. Hymns are few and far between, often set to a different tune and edited down. A generation will grow up thinking there only are 3 verses to 5 verse hymns!

Outside of Church
For me music is important and here Keith Green and Don Francisco are key, they both stick close to scripture in a lot of their songs. For rebel value I would add Larry Norman a hero to many (and a rebel) kicked out of Greenbelt for talking about Jesus on stage! My kind of guy (apart from the hair - which looks remarkably like bawb )


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## tabrooks (Aug 27, 2011)

Just to clarify again...influential -- either for good or for bad. Thanks for your help!


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## steadfast7 (Aug 27, 2011)

The paintings of Massacio, the early Renaissance artist, such as The Holy Trinity, and Explusion from the Garden are among the most influential in an art history sense. He, and other early Italian painters brought Christian themes out of their ethereal, gothic, and iconic mold and infused them with a never-before-seen naturalism, shadow, depth, and humanity. I studied his work Expulsion from Garden of Eden in detail, which was particularly impactful for me.


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## tabrooks (Aug 27, 2011)

steadfast7 said:


> The paintings of Massacio, the early Renaissance artist, such as The Holy Trinity, and Explusion from the Garden are among the most influential in an art history sense. He, and other early Italian painters brought Christian themes out of their ethereal, gothic, and iconic mold and infused them with a never-before-seen naturalism, shadow, depth, and humanity. I studied his work Expulsion from Garden of Eden in detail, which was particularly impactful for me.



Thanks Dennis! You have an excellent eye/mind for art.


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