MADONNA
a study on religion in art
INTRODUCTION
Religion is an important part of life for many people around the world, myself included. According to Humanists UK, "the percentage of the population which describes itself as belonging to no religion has risen from 31.4% to 50.6% between 1983 and 2013 according to the British Social Attitudes Survey’s 31st report issued in 2014". This means that in my home country of Britain, approximately half of the residents consider themselves to be agnostic or do not identify with any one religion. This is quite interesting to me for a number of reasons. First of all, while Christianity tends to be the "go-to" religion here in the West - and it's not hard to see why, with over 40% of Brits classing themselves as Christians (whether they are Catholics, C of E or any other denomination) - there are so many beliefs, theologies and pantheons out there both ancient and modern that it is deeply intriguing to see that more than half of the people in this country don't consider themselves religious at all. What baffles me most is the incredibly small margin left between Christians and agnostics for the countless other religions out there. Judaism, Paganism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, for millennia mankind has explored many avenues in their search for... what? A higher power? A reason to live? A moral compass? Regardless, the fact that those who place their faith in any of these apparently only make up 10% of the population is mind-blowing - especially with there being only six or seven branches of Christianity! This is why I wanted to do a study which focused more on smaller or even (mostly) "dead" faiths. My focus in this project will not be on how many followers certain religions have in the modern day, nor how much their beliefs align with mine (I'm not actually covering my own religion at all), nor even how much experience I have with them or people who fall under them. My focus here is exclusively on the impact these religions have had on culture and art. I'll first explain my thought process going into this project, then I'll give you a "road-map" of what cultures and religions we'll be talking about on this website. First, my rationalisation.
I've already spoken of my first thoughts on this Kalon (here) and how strongly I felt the vibe of divinity and holiness. This went further, in fact, and I specifically saw Catholic art in the design. I recently conducted another study on the life and art of Alphonse Mucha, one of my personal "holy trinity" of artists, and found myself in awe at his depictions of religious figures through his art. Mucha was an interesting case - he was a devout Catholic from his early years, but also had a deep interest in mysticism and the occult. This isn't a combination I've seen often, so I really enjoyed learning about his motivations.
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One of my favourite pieces by Mucha, and one of my favourite pieces of religious art in general, is Madonna of the Lilies. It's actually an unfinished version of a mural which was to be presented on the wall of a Spanish church, a project which was eventually cancelled with an unknown reason. This is a very unique take on the Virgin Mary, but I think it's an interesting consideration as to how Mucha's faith played into his art. From the very beginning, in fact, his pieces were made with reference to Catholicism. His earliest known piece is a depiction of the crucifixion which he made when he was only eight years old. As we go further into his life, his pieces become more sophisticated and his depictions of religious figures grow in complexity as he matures. I believe it was after his move to Paris that he gained his interest in the occult, and that too became an element in his pieces - as a matter of fact, one of his most famous pieces is a woman placed in front of a "halo" made up of the zodiac star signs! While I won't be covering Mucha's work in this project, I adore him and I just had to make a little "honourable mention" here. I suppose it's just fortunate that his art fits so well with
my theme. Regardless, the example I have shown is what would be considered a Madonna - a depiction of the Virgin Mary. This is, of course, the inspiration behind the name I have chosen. Other famous Madonnas include The Virgin in Prayer by Sassoferrato, The Madonna of Port Lligat by Salvador Dali and The Virgin and Child Enthroned among Angels and Saints by Benozzo Gozzoli. These people were fantastic artists, but weren't so fantastic at naming their work. Madonnas are old news, though. Everyone knows them, everyone's seen them, I wanted to learn something new. So, I started considering how much of an impact renaissance religious art had on the cultural scene, how we still have so many remnants of Roman Catholicism in our modern society, and how many other cultures and beliefs have fed into ours over the years. This reminded me of my college final major project last year (it's called The Bone Zone, trust me it was great) when I investigated the human perception of death and how that changes between cultures and religions. In my page on Britain, I mentioned many funeral traditions which we still hold that are rooted in Paganism - for instance, our graves point East, which is thought to be a practice originating in Pagan sun worship. Back to this project, though, I couldn't help but wonder why I've never done more research on Paganism and its effects on our culture. I'm not quite comfortable researching occultism due to my own religious beliefs, but ancient Celtic beliefs are something I have no qualm with and even find a particular interest in. Even better, the Druids of old were particularly artistic people. Celtic art covered a huge period in history and cultures changed so much during that time that I can't realistically cover the whole of it, but I do want to cover Celtic art as it's essentially the basis of modern British culture. Since I should also talk about the primary inspiration, I could make the connections between Celtic art and Catholicism, as the two fed into each other quite a bit. So I had Celtic art, and I had Catholic Renaissance art. Where else could I go? I looked to the place the Renaissance originated, or was taking inspiration from: Ancient Greece.
I've had an appreciation for Greek mythology for as long as I can remember - from the mystic Primordials to the powerful Titans, and of course the complex and dramatic pantheon of the Olympians. It seemed only natural that I should investigate the art made for this wonderfully complicated belief system. But what would I do after that? Three cultures didn't seem enough. My mind wandered to a people who used art in a much more ritualistic fashion; the Mayans. This is another culture which I've had an interest in previously. Not as intensely as the Greeks, but Machu Picchu is one of those places which I've always dreamed of visiting, and in general I've found Mayan beliefs and rituals quite intriguing. Even more intriguing is their mysterious disappearance. I won't touch on this too much, but I can't help but talk about it a little bit in my entry on their civilisation. In my opinion, they are easily the most violent of the cultures I'm covering (perhaps tied with Roman Catholicism), so it'll be interesting to see if that has any bearing on their art.
Finally, to bring us full circle, I'll bring in some Viking ritual art. I see this as a tie between Mayans and Druids, so I may only touch on them briefly. It'll depend on how many different motifs I find from them and how interesting they are to talk about, I suppose.
Well, now you (hopefully) understand where I'm coming from with this project, so I suppose there's nothing left but to dive right into it! Without further ado,
I present my investigation into religion in art and culture!