Beauty as an Agent of Salvation

Neilson Carlin, Caritas, Oil on Linen, 2009

In his April 26th article entitled On Beauty: A Message to Its Religious Despisers, Deal W. Hudson responds to those who claim that beauty is the "road to ruin," that it is illusory, materialistic or even unnecessary. Instead, he gives credence to the idea that "beauty can be an agent of salvation" with a cogent argument punctuated with compelling words from Hans urs von Balthasar and Alexander Solzhenitsyn. He explains that there is a metaphysical unity of beauty and truth, and that "God had to make His beauty visible to the material eye in order to draw that eye back to the spiritual." Not only does "God's revelation to us [have] an aesthetic character that cannot be ignored," but "if you deny a person beauty...he may reject Him, He who is beauty itself." To read the full article, please click here.

Artist's Blog Explores Sacred Art and Beauty

In response to our Holy Father's call to "rediscover the way of beauty, " Thomas More College's artist-in-residence, David Clayton, has created a blog dedicated to this end, with articles that explore the principles behind art and beauty. To visit the blog, please click here.

EWTN Travel Program Features Catholic Church Art & Architecture

Now airing their first season through June 3rd, EWTN's new show The Faithful Traveler, hosted by Diana von Glahn, presents the history, architecture and religious significance of notable churches, shrines, and places of pilgrimage throughout the United States. "Discovering the treasures of the Church...one city at a time." For more information, please click here.

New Publication on Christian Art and Evangelization

Does the Church need artistic beauty in her liturgy? What occurs when pastors and catechists disregard the tradition of sacred art in their ministry? What role can Christian art play in recapturing the imagination of Christians and in redirecting our culture towards the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty? These are some of the questions Dr. Jem Sullivan tackles in her work The Beauty of Faith: Using Christian Art to Spread the Good News, recently published by Our Sunday Visitor. Framing her discussion within the context of our society's sensory overload - in which mainstream "iconography" becomes more prevalent precisely as Christian images become scarce - she emphasizes the power of images to convey ideas and to shape culture. Dr. Sullivan calls for a recovery of art's traditional role in the life of the Church, arguing that it will enable us to encounter, teach, and live our faith in a more profound and engaged way. To purchase the book, please click here.

Way of Beauty Atelier Summer Programs

Thomas More College's Way of Beauty Atelier is offering a unique series of summer programs in Catholic art and inspiration that are taught by internationally renowned working Catholic artists. Artists and aspiring artists can choose from one or more of three programs in iconography, naturalistic drawing, and the principles of Catholic art.

For more information, please click here.

Successful Sacred Art Show Travels to DC

Nearly 100,000 visitors were drawn to an exhibition of sacred art which recently concluded at the National Gallery in London. This was triple the number of visitors expected. According to Curator Xavier Bray, it was "the immediacy of the images" that drew such a large number of people. "The images of Christ were very truthful, profound depictions; you were meeting the Virgin, Christ and the saints in a very direct way." In a crowded gallery, he said, "there was a wonderful sense of silence - awe-inspired people. I met a Sufi woman in tears.

"The Sacred Made Real: Spanish Painting and Sculpture, 1600-1700, which will be housed at the National Gallery in Washington, DC from February 28th to May 31st, showcases major paintings by Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Zurbarán, and Francisco Pacheco, as well as painted and gilded sculptures by Gregorio Fernández, Juan Martínez Montañés, and Pedro de Mena, among others. Many of the sculptures have never before been exhibited away from their Spanish churches, convents, and monasteries. Click here to read the full article on the London show. For more information on the DC exhibition, please click here.

Sacred Arts Academy Summer Workshop in Florence

The Sacred Arts Academy is offering Catholic art students an intensive painting workshop in Florence June 10–July 3, 2010. Founded in 2009, the Academy seeks to respond to the call of the Second Vatican Council to establish a place of learning for Catholic artists to be trained. With a focus on both figurative and decorative arts in several media, it exists not only to teach technical expertise but also to foster in studying artists an understanding of art's deepest purpose and promise. Please visit their website for more information.

Artists as Prodigal Sons?

Rembrandt van Rijn
The Return of the Prodigal Son
c.1669

The Church's historic relationship with the arts might best be understood as paternal rather than spousal. This is the view put forth by art historian Elizabeth Lev following the Holy Father's recent address to artists in Rome. The Church, as patron (from the Latin pater, meaning father), "acted like a nurturing father, providing education and boundaries but also exhorting artists to cultivate their gifts." Thus rather than characterizing the modern estrangment of this relationship as a "divorce", as it has been widely described, Lev contends that an "extended adolescence" is to blame. Modern artists, bent on self-promotion and self-expression, found the Christian narrative and aesthetic traditions contricting. "And so it came to pass that today's angry, sulky, self-absorbed adolescents of art chose to provoke instead of persuade, titillate instead of stimulate, and rage instead of reason." The Holy Father's call to artists, therefore, is for maturation, and for a return to the nurturing arms of their pater. To read the full Zenit article, please click here.

Papal Address to Artists

On November 21st, 2009, the 10th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's Letter to Artists, and the 45th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's similar meeting with artists, Pope Benedict XVI met with some 250 artists from around the world in the Sistine Chapel. The intent of this meeting, in his words, was "to confirm the friendship between the Church and the arts." He maintained the need for artists in the Church "in order to carry out our ministry...preaching and rendering accessible and comprehensible to the minds and hearts of our people the things of the spirit, the invisible, the ineffable, the things of God himself." In this regard, he continued, there is a particular need for an authentic beauty in the arts, since beauty is "a path towards the transcendent, towards the ultimate Mystery, towards God." As "custodians of beauty" artists "are to be heralds and witnesses of hope for humanity." The full text of this address is now available in English by clicking here.

News Archive (2007-2008)

November 28, 2008: Placido Domingo puts Pope John Paul II poems to music. Click to read the article on ZENIT.

November 27, 2008: Pope Benedict XVI says the artist’s mission is “to stir up awe at and desire for the beautiful." Read the article on Catholic Online.

October 15, 2008: Art as bridge to Scripture emerges as a topic at Synod of Bishops. Click to read the article from Catholic News Service.

October 13, 2008: "Art must be used in proclaiming the word of God," German Bishop remarks. Click to read the article from Catholic News Agency.

September 19, 2008: Dramatic stories in Bible have inspired artists for centuries. Read the news brief from Catholic News Service.

September 1, 2008: Vatican proposes sacred art presence at the 2009 Venice Biennial. Read the full article on ZENIT.

August 26, 2008: Master's program in Architecture, Sacred Arts, and Liturgy at the European University of Rome seeks to halt sacred arts crisis. Read the article on ZENIT.

July 7, 2008: Pope Benedict XVI says music is an evangilization tool. Read the full article on ZENIT.

July 4, 2008: Archbishop Raymond Burke founds the Institute for Sacred Music. Read an interview with the Institute's first director, Fr. Samuel Weber, on ZENIT.

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June 20, 2008: The Foundations’ assistant director, Rachel Ross, is interviewed by ZENIT on the current exhibit, Redeeming Beauty. Read the full interview.

April 25, 2008: "Music infuses hope into the human soul," says Pope Benedict. Full story from CNA

March 14, 2008: The Foundation for Sacred Arts moves to a new location in downtown Washington, DC. Full story in our March-April 2008 e-Newsletter.

March 9, 2008: Redeeming Beauty opens at Ave Maria University in Naples, FL. Read the full story in our e-Newsletter.

February 7, 2008: New York museum organizes art expo entitled "The Prodigal Son: The Art of Forgiveness." Full story from CNA.

October 15, 2007: "Sacred music safeguards tradition of the Church and is of greater value than any other art," Pope says. Full story from CNA

April 17,2007: Pope praises the power of music to raise the gaze of man to "absolute Good and Beauty". Full story from the Catholic News Agency.

March 1, 2007: Enriching prayer: Artists, enthusiasts promote local, sacred art . Click here for the full story from the Phoenix Catholic Sun.