The Beauty and Morality of Religious Art

 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed his body.  Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.  They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.  Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.  And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

John 19: 38-42 NRSV

Now for something completely different...well, I am inclined to include art stories along the way. 

The Victoria and Albert Museum in Britain has acquired a medieval ivory carved from a walrus tusk depicting Joseph of Arimathea lifting the body of Jesus down from the cross. The gospels tell us that Joseph laid the body in a tomb he owned rather than it be discarded in the manner of crucified criminals. Approximately 800 years old and only 18 centimetres in length the piece is a beautiful representation of a moment of sorrow. It was once a scene in a panel showing the Passion of Christ and the V&A has one other piece, Judas at the Last Supper. 

A celebrated British novelist let loose his contempt for the Christian church in a recent novel many found almost unreadable, myself included. Amongst his many criticisms is the contention that institutional Christianity diverted the talents of generations of artists to religous themes. It's a baffling notion that seems rooted in his hatred for Christianity. Whatever we feel about the vast resources used to commission religious works of art, it could be argued that the world would have been been impoverished without the sculptures, paintings, and architecture of Christianity.

Do I think that spending 3.5 million dollars, Canadian, on a small piece of carved ivory is moral or ethical in today's world of need? This has always been the question when it comes to the "extravagance" of art and probably always will be.