Introduction What is sacred Christian art? Illuminated Manuscripts in Christian Art What are the foundations of Christian art? Sacred buildings The Sanctuary The Sacred Image The Function of the Icon The Decadence of Christian Art The Renewal of Christian Art

slide 6 of 10 What are the purposes and forms of sacred art in the sanctuary? "The sacred art of Christianity constitutes the normal setting of the liturgy, of which it is an amplification in the fields of sound and of sight. Like the non-sacramental liturgy, its purpose is to prepare and to bring out the effects of the means of grace instituted by Christ Himself...The liturgy does not determine the architectural order alone, it also regulates the disposition of sacred images according to the general symbolism of the regions of space and the liturgical significance of left and right." "There is also the fact that a 'diaphanous' architecture would not be possible without the art of the glazier, whose windows make the outer walls transparent while safeguarding the intimacy of the sanctuary. The light broken up by stained glass is no longer that of the crudity of the outer world, it is the light of hope and beatitude. At the same time the color of the glass has itself become light...so the Divine Light, which as such is blinding, is attenuated and becomes Grace when it is refracted in the soul."