How to Know Whether an Artwork Is Christian

The term Christian might be applied to any of eight aspects of an artwork: 

• The content or subject matter
• The artist
• The intent of the artist
• The instructions of the patron or commissioner
• The viewer or community’s response (in other words, if it seems Christian, maybe it is Christian)
• The technique or process of creating the artwork (e.g., prayerfully, as in the making of icons)
• The context in which the artwork was / is presented or used (e.g., liturgical, church, museum, private)
• The title or caption of the artwork



If an artwork is Christian in several of these elements, then it is clearly a Christian artwork. If only one of the elements is Christian, it is up to the viewer to decide whether the artwork is sufficiently Christian to be considered Christian art.

The term artwork includes the obvious visual arts of painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, & mosaic, and such visual expressions as stained glass, collage, & textiles, but as it is used in this app, it also includes religious & liturgical objects like chalices, crosses, baptismal fonts, & tabernacles. Even the church organ can be an artwork. Artwork includes not only fine art or high art but also anything that any Christian community has found aesthetically pleasing, even kitschy or popular art.