As far as religion is concerned, we can find works of sacred art – intended for worship – in the different religions.
So we have Christian sacred art, Buddhist sacred art, Islamic sacred art, etc.
In the Buddhist religion, for example, the Thangka (or Thanka) are paintings depicting deities and enlightened beings from the pantheon of Tibetan Buddhism. They are a basis for learning religious principles.
Thanka of Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra. Central Tibet, 17th century. Rubin Museum of Art
3 – sacred art | pedagogical function
In this context, and throughout history, we find many works with an eminently pedagogical function in relation to the liturgical messages they were intended to transmit.
In Catholic churches, for example, images related to biblical scenes, to the Gospels, to the lives of saints, have the function of awakening the religiosity of the faithful and accompany the liturgical celebrations.
Related post: What is iconography in art?
The images substitute or assist the verbal and written message in times of low literacy.
And in many cases, they are literally a form of storytelling, step by step. The most frequent case is the representation of the Via Crucis.
But when it comes to the lives of the saints we also have some very interesting cases.
Take the example of the coffered ceiling of the Church of São Vicente de Sousa, in the municipality of Felgueiras, Portugal.
The caissons in the main chapel depict with images the life and martyrdom of Saint Vincent, the church’s patron saint. The panels are numbered sequentially according to the episodes in the life of the Saint.
What if the religious artworks are musealized?
Throughout history, works of art change their function. Many of the works of religious art originally produced with a cult function are now in museums.
In the case of monuments, their desacralization occurs, and they start to function as places to visit and enjoy, and not as places of worship.
In their origin they have a religious character, but their function has changed. They began to focus on study, history, artistic characteristics, and fruition.
The designation of Museum of Sacred Art applied to many museums that exhibit works that in their origin once had a cult function is frequent and perfectly clarifying of the content of their collections although the objects do not currently have a cult function.