Religion, Art and the Media Introduction Lesson Objectives: To know the outline of the course To understand a way of defining religious art To reflect on questions about the course and scholars views.

Intro to course  Expectations  Course outline  Assessment Criteria  Assessments  Research  First two topic focus  Films  Books

Nature and Purpose of Religious Art

What do we mean by religious art?  Today: are there different types of religious art?  Next time: what makes something religious art?  TASK: In pairs come up with as many suggestions as you can for how you would categorise the images you are going to see.  The images will go on a loop so you will see them several times!  This will also see your general knowledge of art and religious art – so don’t worry if you draw a blank!

How can we categorise the images? Possible suggestions:  Period  Style  Medium  Region  Purpose  Intended Audience

To what extent can we easily define religious art? “’Christian art’ is unusual in that it does not describe art of a particular style, period, or region, but art for a particular range of purposes, which encompasses a wide range of forms and styles” Beth Williamson (Christian Art: A V.S. Intro) Very EasilyWith Difficulty