Before the Bible became the best-selling book in the world, there was a time when most people relied on art to gain knowledge of the Bible. Since people were mostly illiterate in early times, art was used to illustrate biblical stories in order to further spread the religion. However, some artworks serve as tools for artists to express their faith and devotion. As the wealthiest group, the church sometimes pays artists to produce artwork for the church's use. Many common forms of religiously influenced art include sculpture, oil painting, fresco, and poetry. It is nearly impossible to study Western culture without taking religious influences into account. In ancient Egypt, the Gods are always depicted in art. Egyptians worshiped the gods for several reasons. To achieve longevity and prosperous harvests, they created art as homage to their God. One pharaoh in particular, Amenhotep IV, is very interested in monotheistic religion. He changes his name to Akhenaten, meaning "on behalf of the Aten." Much of what we think of Egyptian art comes from its Amarna period. The most common theme in their sculpture is worship. These sculptures usually depict Akhenaten standing before an altar, offering something to Aten with Nefertiti and her daughters standing behind him. Even in the royal family scene we can still find traces of the religious aspect in a sculpture. Although this style of sculpture soon disappeared due to the reign of his son Tutankhamun, the religion continued to influence later Egyptian art. Some of the most famous artists today come from the High Renaissance period. Almost everyone knows the works of Michelangelo by Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino or...... middle of paper ......French Mary in place of an elderly woman. Although the statue was commissioned for a wealthy Frenchman, Michelangelo is able to incorporate some of his understanding and devotion into the statue. Instead of showing pain all over Jesus' face, Michelangelo chooses to emphasize Jesus' abandonment due to Jesus' death. Another of his works is the painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel which highly represents the art movement of High Renaissance. It takes him about five years to complete this enormous work. The painting contains 9 stories from the Book of Genesis including: The separation between light and darkness, The creation of the sun, moon and earth, the separation of earth and water, the creation of Adam, the creation of Eve, the temptation and expulsion, Noah's sacrifice, the great flood and Noah's drunkenness. The most recognized images
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