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Notes -
The history of art makes the most sense if you consider that its purpose is benefit, and this includes the feelings of awe and reverence. Biblical stories are painted because they are always didactic. Statues of the Virgin Mary are crafted so that women have an aspiring figure. Churches are patterned after nature and cathedrals remind us of the cave and the tree. Prehistoric man contemplated in a cave, drawing the figures of nature, and historic man contemplates in cathedral, with drawn figures of human nature. Prehistoric man cut off his finger at the loss of his child in the first religious ritual; historic man, in the last ritual, sees the Son of God cut, and the Father’s finger extended from the heavens.
All of this has a benefit. Hell is painted in such a way that we ought to fear it. The Last Judgment shows us the most salient image of the eternal and timeless choice of good versus evil, not just occurring in the Life to Come but occurring every day. The problem with “art is about the beyond” is that it is ambiguous (at best) and can excuse art that has no benefit. I’m sure modern architects have used this term while they erect their monstrosities that make everyone unhappier.
Religion, too, should chiefly be understood by its benefit. God is love insofar as love is beneficial. God is fearsome insofar as fear is beneficial. To the proud, God humbles, and the lowly He exalts. To the blind he gives sight, but to those who claim they see perfectly he blinds. God is benefit, the beneficent.
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