The bible has been at the center of many artists creations for hundreds of years now. From Michelangelo and the famous painting of “Creation of Adam” to Rembrandt’s “The Blinding of Samson“, “The Incredulity of St. Thomas ” or Paul Gauguin’s “The Yellow Christ“.
This is, of course, a very short list. The long list consists of not only the most canonical artists such as the ones listed above, but thousands of lesser know, sometimes local or anonymous artists depicting biblical scenes in their paintings, statues, woodwork or any other art form. Many modern artists also choose the bible as the main theme for their work, and one may find a lot websites dealing with modern biblical art and artists. While most the new biblical artwork is made by and sold to Christian and Jewish art collectors worldwide, in the past this was not necessarily the case. Famous artwork was often commissioned merely for its artistic value, such as the Statue of David by Michelangelo. The statue was indeed commissioned by the Florence Cathedral, but was to be admired publicly by all citizens of Florence.
Made during the Renaissance the statue of David was just one of many artistic culminations of that period. But other periods in history, recent history included, saw the creation of many other masterpieces with biblical influences.
Well known themes in Christian bible art
Christian artwork often depicts scenes from the New Testament and related themes. Many paintings include the images of Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, winged angles, heaven or hell and many other repeating motifs.
Jewish Biblical art Themes
One of the most commonly repeated themes in Jewish are is the splitting of the sea by Moses (Crossing of the Red Sea), while escaping from Egypt. This particular theme is also the subject of many Judaica artifacts related to Passover. Another favorite subject in Jewish are is Noah’s Ark.