Three New Books Explore Art and the Sacred in the 21st Century

Three recent publications examine the evolving relationship between art and religion. Pope Francis's 'La mia idea di arte' (Edizioni Musei Vaticani-Mondadori, €16) presents art as a tool for evangelization, with the first part echoing John Paul II's 1999 Letter to Artists and the second analyzing eleven Vatican works from a catechetical perspective. Critic Demetrio Paparoni's 'Cristo e l’impronta dell’arte' (Skira, €28) takes a secular approach, selecting works by artists from Grünewald to Kapoor for their aesthetic value rather than ideological alignment. 'La Rivelazione dell’Apocalisse' (Silvana Editoriale, €18) includes a concluding essay by Andrea Dall’Asta SJ that examines contemporary apocalyptic works like the Chapman Brothers' 'Hell' and Cattelan's 'La Nona Ora'. A fourth title, Michela Beatrice Ferri's 'Sacro contemporaneo' (Àncora, €18), features interviews exploring why Christianity, despite its incarnational theology, has distanced itself from art. The Vatican has participated in the Venice Biennale with a national pavilion only since 2013, with two editions featuring artists such as Studio Azzurro, Josef Koudelka, and Monika Bravo.