art

In contrast with the genius of classical Greece, Hebrew and Jewish creative talent was repressed by the strict prohibition of images of the kind that inspired the sculpture and painting of Israel's Egyptian and Mesopotamian neighbours. Decorated seals have been discovered, and at Megiddo some statuettes of the ‘Queen of Heaven’ explain the wrath of the prophets (Jer. 7:18) against popular fertility religions. Christians inherited Jewish fear of idolatry, but signs and symbols (e.g. a fish) were used in burial places outside the city walls of Rome to proclaim the hope of resurrection; in these catacombs the representation of the Good Shepherd became common. When it became permissible to portray the man Jesus, artists continued to use signs and symbols in addition to depicting his dual nature as God and man. They were therefore engaged in representing an historical event which is also a continuing belief inviting our allegiance: this is the story of great masterpieces of European painting for a thousand years.