Question

One of the major conflicts between 16th- and 17th-century Protestants and Catholics was over the style of worship services. Whereas Catholics focused on spectacle and spiritual and psychological transport to another place, Protestants sought to involve worshippers more directly, through congregational participation and the restriction of ritual. What role does visual art play in both approaches? Regardless of your personal religious beliefs, which artistic style do you consider most effective, and why?

Answer 1

Answer:

Art plays a smaller role in Protestantism, due to its iconoclast approach. On the other hand, it has played an important role for the Catholic Church to express religious feelings around the Catholic faith.

Explanation:

Art in the Catholic Church consists of all visual works created to illustrate, supplement, and tangibly portray the teachings of this religion. This includes sculptures, paintings, mosaics, metal art, embroidery, and architecture. Catholic art has played an important role in history and the development of Western art since at least the fourth century. The main theme in Catholic art has been the life and times of Jesus Christ, along with his disciples, saints, and Old Testament events.

The Protestant Reformation during the 16th century in Europe gave rise to a new artistic tradition that adhered to Protestant themes and diverged drastically from the tradition of southern Europe and the humanist art produced during the Renaissance. In turn, the Catholic Counter-Reformation reacted against and responded to Protestant criticisms of art in the Catholic Church producing a more astringent style of Catholic art. Protestant religious art embraced the values of Protestantism and helped the proliferation of Protestantism, but greatly reduced the amount of religious art produced in Protestant countries. Artists in Protestant countries diversified into secular art forms such as history painting, landscape painting, portrait painting and still life painting.

The Protestant Reformation gave rise to a wave of iconoclasm, (destruction of religious images). All forms of Protestantism showed hostility towards religious images, considering them expressions of idolatry, especially sculpture and large paintings. The illustrations in books and prints were less resisted, since they were smaller and more private. Protestant leaders, especially Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin, actively removed images of churches controlled by their followers and branded the great majority of religious images, even simple crosses, of idolatry.

Catholic art may be more effective in terms of spiritual feelings because it looks to overwhelm the senses of the observer, which can be adequate for spirituality.