Christian Art

Christian Art by Rowena Loverance (The British Museum Press, 2007, £20, ISBN-13: 978-0-7141-5053-6)

Rowena Loverance’s book is both an accessible introduction to Christian Art and a stimulating exploration of the way in which art from the Christian tradition can speak to our condition today. To achieve both within the pages of one book is a considerable achievement.

Loverance’s scope is broad, covering Christian Art from its inception to the contemporary in a way that is genuinely global and which takes in the decorative as well as the fine arts. She begins with a brief chronological survey in which she notes the way in which different aspects of Christian Art emerge from the different periods and cultures of Church history. The majority of the book, however, explores Christian Art thematically, noting the way in which the visual arts have engaged with the themes and imagery of Christian scripture and tradition. While necessarily concise through covering a lot of ground, Loverance writes with the sensitivity to art that one should expect of an art historian and with a similar appreciation of theology that comes from one writing, as a Quaker, out of her own faith tradition.

It is in her thematic survey that Loverance provides real substance for those with a concern for the way in which art from the Christian tradition can speak to our condition today. Her approach defines Christian art as that which engages with the themes and imagery of Christian scripture and tradition. This is a broad definition that enables her to escape the constrictions of dealing only with art created by those possessing Christian convictions.

The key themes that she identifies (identity; divinity; incarnation; stewardship; service; Church; life and death) enable exploration of the way in which artists have responded to Christian perspectives on fundamental worldview questions such as: who we are; what is wrong with the world; how can it be put right; and where we are going.

In addition to surveying the themes and imagery with which artists have engaged, Loverance also identifies aspects of these themes that are not reflected in the history of Christian Art. Her survey is therefore peppered with helpful ideas for imagery and themes which are ripe for exploration by contemporary artists. Among her valuable conclusions, she notes that “despite Jesus’ penchant for teaching through parables and examples, many of the most vivid have gone unrepresented.”

Loverance has written an engaging, accessible survey of the diversity of Christian Art in which she clearly identifies the relevance of such art to our contemporary condition and identifies fruitful new avenues in the Christian tradition for possible exploration by contemporary artists. Well illustrated and designed, this is a book to inspire both the creation of new Christian art and appreciation of the wonderful heritage that we already possess.