Sacred Art and Architecture of Hungary, Austria, and Germany
https://goo.gl/photos/TMqgFaPiNAZnWeCh7
Copy this link into your browser to see amazing art and architecture from Hungary, Austria, and Germany. I took these pictures on our recent river cruise. The one thing all of this art and architecture has in common is the glorification of God and His Son so I call it ‘sacred art’. In all of this beauty I sensed the pleasure and presence of God.
But, there is a dark side to this art and architecture, especially the churches and cathedrals. They were built by skilled artisans joined together in guilds. In the 12th to 15th centuries (and maybe beyond) guilds excluded Jews. As you know, antisemitism is not a 20th century phenomenon. It was alive and well in the Middle Ages and its spirit is embedded in these buildings.
Is anything created by men free of the taint of evil and the flesh? We can see our entire record of human accomplishment encapsulated by Abel and Cain. Nothing created by man — no art or architecture, no writing, no painting, no music, nothing — is free from this dark stain. Does this mean that all true art should not be valued and appreciated? True art points to something transcendent, beyond the artist, something (in my opinion) created by God (even if the artist does not ‘believe’ in God. God makes the rain fall on the believer and the unbeliever). I believe that true art is a gift from God — in spite of the darkness and evil in men’s hearts, and the day-to-day mundane imperfections of each human being that we call sin, men and women are capable of creating in stone, on the page, or on canvas objects of such sheer beauty and magnificence that we stand before them transfixed — Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch’ or Michelangelo’s ‘David’ or the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel among many others. How can flawed, evil, imperfect man create such perfection? There is another side to our humanity — it is, in my opinion, God moving in and through us, using us as His vessels and vehicles, even when we are unaware of His presence. His presence is what I experience when I look at this art and architecture.
We must never forget or tolerate evil, but we must never turn away from the beauty that men create because that is, in part, what it means to be made in the image of God. The line between the sacred and profane runs right down the middle of the human heart (I don’t think I just made that up. I must have read it somewhere). To turn away from all the beautiful things created by men and women is to turn away from our own hearts, to deny that part in each one of us (well, most of us) that has the potential to grow into the image that God placed there.
In a sense, to turn away is a decision to see the world as hopeless, beyond redemption and beyond the effect of light. It is a decision to immerse ourselves in the darkness that we should be fighting against. You know the darkness can overwhelm us if we let it. In spite of all the darkness around us, there is light in the world, a lot of light. In my opinion, the art and architecture in this post reflects that light — it is not the light, the Light is Jesus — but it reflects and celebrates that Light. Our purpose is to carry the Light into the world. These paintings, cathedrals, stained glass windows, and altars remind me in a deep way that this mission to release the Kingdom of God into the kingdom of the world will be accomplished by flawed men and women, but in the power, the beauty, the majesty of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit moving in and through us for His glory.
OK. Enough preaching. Enjoy the pictures.
Grace and peace,
John