Christian Art

As defined in Wikipedia, religious art is a visual representation of religious ideologies and their relationship with humans. Sacred art directly relates to religious art since its purpose is for worship and participation in religious rituals and practices. Christian sacred art is specifically created to illustrate and portray in tangible form the principles of Christianity and to provide imagery of different Christian beliefs in the world. Most Christian art is crafted around familiar themes for the intended audience of devotees and includes images of Jesus and narrative scenes from his life, Old Testament scenes, images of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, and images of saints and are mostly associated with Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. To reach the masses of uneducated followers, a complex but easily recognizable iconographic system of attributes and symbols were developed to identify specific scenes and personages. The VA Christian-Collection includes art and sculpture as well as religious jewelry, including Ethiopian Crosses reflecting the unique tradition and iconography of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.