Art has been a part of the Church since it began, acting as a source of comfort and as a device for communicating the beliefs of early Christians. Examples of Christian art from as early as the 3rd century show how artists were depicting stories from the Bible as a way to tell the story of the Christian faith and encourage believers. The Church eventually became one of the largest patrons for art, commissioning artwork to be used in churches as part of worship. Icons, which depict religious scenes and figures, were created as an expression of shared beliefs and were used to encourage believers to worship. However, as the art world became more secular in nature, Christian art has become less common. But in the 19th century, a number of artists began to use Christian subject matter in their artwork, but imbued them with their own personal emotion and experience. In these works, artists have taken the well-known motifs featuring specific events in the life of both Mary and Jesus and use them not as a means of worship in the public space of a church, but as a container to communicate their own personal experience. The figures take on a different life, no longer serving the public as icons of faith, worship, and theology, but instead are used to communicate an individual’s subjective experience.
Sano di Pietro, Madonna and Child with Saints Jerome, Bernardino, John the Baptist, and Anthony of Padua and Two Angels, ca. 1465–70, Tempera on wood, gold ground, Metropolitan Museum of Art 1975.1.42
Sano di Pietro, a popular artist and illuminator, produced many images of the Madonna and Child, and the influence of traditional iconography like this is clear in Gauguin's Ia Orana Maria. A devotional image like this would have encouraged viewers to thing about elements of their theology such as the incarnation, the virgin birth, and the divinity of Christ, emphasized by visual elements such as the golden background, the figures' facial expressions, and the onlooking saints and angels.
Paul Gauguin, Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary), 1891, Oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art 51.112.2
This, Gauguin’s largest painting from his first visit to Tahiti, shows figures that reference a traditional Madonna and Child image. They draw strong parallels to paintings such as Sano di Pietro’s Madonna and Child with Saints Jerome, Bernardino, John the Baptist, and Anthony of Padua and Two Angels, especially in the embrace of the mother and child, the contemplative expression on Mary’s face, and the golden halos encircling their heads. Gauguin, however, places these well-known figures in a foreign context, using this juxtaposition to show his own interest in embracing both Eastern and Western religious symbols.
Eugène Delacroix, Pietà, 1850, oil on canvas, National Museum, Oslo
Delacroix created this painting as a part of a mural he painted in a Paris church featuring figures mourning the death of Jesus. Images like this were important to the church as a means to tell the story of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. This piece specifically emphasizes to the viewer the suffering and humanity of Christ, achieving this through the use of dark colors and the twisted position of the Christ figure. This is contrasted with the white cloth draped around his body, pointing to his holiness and coming resurrection.
Vincent van Gogh, Pietà (after Delacroix),1889, oil on canvas, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Van Gogh painted this work as a variation of Eugène Delacroix’s Pietà. The position of the figures mirrors the original painting, while the visible brushwork and color choice shows Van Gogh’s distinctive style. Images of Mary with a dying Christ are traditional in Christian iconography and are meant to emphasize the humanity and suffering of Christ. However this work, painted while Van Gogh was staying in a mental hospital, seems to communicate some of the pain that Van Gogh himself was experiencing, and he even seems to insert his own likeness onto the Christ figure, further emphasizing his own suffering.
Master of the Berswordt Altar, The Crucifixion, ca. 1400, Oil, egg, and gold on plywood, transferred from wood , Metropolitan Museum of Art 43.161
This piece is a part of a large altarpiece containing thirty narrative scenes in the Neustädter Marienkirche church in Bielefeld, Westphalia. This Crucifixion scene shows Christ’s death with his disciples and Mary at the foot of the cross. Crucifixion scenes like this encouraged viewers to consider Christ’s sacrifice and death, and were often featured prominently as part of an altarpiece. For the viewer, this relationship closely ties the consideration of Christ’s death and participation in the Lord’s supper.
Georges Rouault, Christ en Croix; Christ on Cross, 1936, Color aquatint, Denis Bloch Fine Art
Georges Rouault was a devout Christian and his faith was an inspiration for him in his work. This piece is a Crucifixion scene, resembling many older works such as The Crucifixion by Master of the Berswordt Altar, with the closely cropped scene and the relationships between the figures. Crucifixion scenes often emphasized the humanity and suffering of Christ through the portrayal of Christ’s limp body and the emotion of the accompanying figures. Through this piece Rouault sought to give light to the pain and suffering he saw in the world but bring too, the promise of resurrection.
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