Dear reader,
I’m going back to a topic I introduced some time ago. It is the connection between art and religion. From what I’ve read so far, I believe it is correct to say that what we know as art today started with religion – the description and laws of a world visible and invisible. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 12th edition, says it this way: “One of the most renowned figures in Egyptian history is Imhotep, the royal builder for King Djoser of the Third Dynasty. Imhotep was a man of legendary talent who served also as the pharaoh’s chancellor and high priest of the sun god. After his death, the Egyptians revered Imhotep as a god and in time may have inflated the list of his achievements. Nonetheless, his is the first known name of an artist in recorded history.”(Wadsworth, p60) Today we call this man an artist, but in his own time he was a priest and an advisor to the king. His “artistic” activity was simply what it took to do his job.
In the Jewish and Christian religions, information is given early on about men dealing with the arts. In the Bible, the sacred text of these religions, in the very beginning of the 1st book, Genesis, music is mentioned – “The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who handle the harp and flute.” (Genesis chapter 4 verse 21, the Artscroll Series Stone edition translation). Even though the text does not specifically say music was for religion, the context is that God has created man and man has personal dealings with God – a real invisible being. The first direct mention of artists comes in the second book – Exodus. There, in chapter 31, verses 1-5, the Bible says: [The Lord] spoke to Moses, saying: “See, I have called by name, Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with a Godly spirit, with wisdom, insight, and knowledge, and with every craft; to weave designs, to work with gold, silver, and copper; stone-cutting for setting, and wood-carving – to perform every craft.”(Artscroll Stone edition by Mesorah Publications). In the following verses 6-11, the text makes it clear that this Bezalel was specifically to make the articles of God’s tabernacle – a purely religious place for worship. He and others like him were not priests, but they were working directly under the priest and leader of the Jewish people Moses.
I don’t know the art of Asian or African cultures much, but I suspect I will find similar information there. I will do some reading and write some more.
Thank you for staying with this blog, dear reader! Have a wonderful week! See you soon!
Art and the Invisible 