Why doesn't the Church commission Artists anymore?

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Hi, lately I have been wondering why doesn’t the Church commission Artists anymore like they did during the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, etc?

Back then they incorporated the teachings in paintings, frescos, sculptures, and more Art which helped people understand the faith more. A lot of the works were commissioned by the Church.

How come there aren’t any new versions of media such as Film, editorials, animation, and so on that do the same? Or if there is, how come we don’t hear about it?

As an Artist myself, I get disappointed because I wish the Church commissioned Artists today like they did back then :tiphat:
 
Good question! I have asked this to myself, and I will be glad to hear the answers to your query!

I suspect that the answer is money-related. There is only so much money in the Church, and there is heavy pressure, for good reasons, to give that money to various organizations that help the poor, the prisoners, the war-torn, the sick, the disenfranchised, etc.

I’m not sure what the reaction would be if the Church used a large portion of their monies to commission artists (and musicians!). I think a lot of Catholics would be furious and would point to the world’s poor and say, “Help them first!”

I also think that there is a lot of pressure, for good reasons, to spend the money recruiting and educating priests.

Helping the poor and recruiting/educating priests are both GOOD things, and I would hate to see money taken away from these endeavors. But I do wish that we could see more discussion about and development of various arts, especially music, in the Catholic Church. Nowadays, one good hit song can literally reach out to billions of people (e.g., “Let It Go” from Frozen.) Same for a really good film, or a stunning piece of visual art or photography. So IMO, it would be a good investment for the Church to commission artists and fund their work as part of an evangelization effort.
 
Actually, but on a smaller scale, doesn’t the church still commission artists? I’m thinking of major new cathedrals and similar – I’m sure the new cathedral in Los Angeles had artwork commissioned for it, and possibly the new one in Oakland. Some decades ago the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in DC has certainly commissioned artists. Even in St. Peter’s in Rome I remember seeing a new(ish) bronze of Pius XII.
 
I remember being in Savanah and they were renovating the Church and had commissioned artists for the job.
 
Rebirth_Jr said:
Hi, lately I have been wondering why doesn’t the Church commission Artists anymore like they did during the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, etc?

Back then they incorporated the teachings in paintings, frescos, sculptures, and more Art which helped people understand the faith more. A lot of the works were commissioned by the Church.

How come there aren’t any new versions of media such as Film, editorials, animation, and so on that do the same? Or if there is, how come we don’t hear about it?

As an Artist myself, I get disappointed because I wish the Church commissioned Artists today like they did back then :tiphat:
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Our parish commissions a new image of St. Matthew every year.
 
Rebirth_Jr said:
Hi, lately I have been wondering why doesn’t the Church commission Artists anymore like they did during the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, etc?
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I am not sure why you think that there are no commissions of art any longer.

There are fewer, to be sure. There are many reasons, foremost I would suspect being the availability of commercially produced statuary, paintings, and other church artwork.
Rebirth_Jr said:
How come there aren’t any new versions of media such as Film, editorials, animation, and so on that do the same?
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Perhaps you should visit the Vatican News service site if you are unaware of the Church’s multimedia efforts.
Rebirth_Jr said:
Or if there is, how come we don’t hear about it?
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I am not sure why you are unaware of such goings-on. What would you expect to hear?

In my diocese there have been several unique sculptures, stained glass, paintings, etc., commissioned for a shrine in our diocese, for parishes, for the cathedral. I usually read about them in the local diocesan paper.

My own parish commissioned a statue of our patron saint that came from an artist in Italy, and commissioned two stained glass windows from a local artist.
Rebirth_Jr said:
an Artist myself, I get disappointed because I wish the Church commissioned Artists today like they did back then :tiphat:
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If you do religious artwork, sculpture, etc., you should make yourself known to your bishop. That way you can be in the know when such opportunities arise in your diocese.
 
Yeah, I was beginning to wonder about that myself. I wished the Church still had its edge in the arts, because I think modern art is not as great as some of the works that were made centuries prior.

Oh well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
 
Because post-Enlightenment period, the Church was no longer the only patron and repository of arts and education. New nations had begun to emerge which sponsored these things.

I recommend the textbook Western Civilization Vol I by Jackson Spielvogel to get more in-depth, and perhaps How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill.
 
The assumption in the title question is wrong. The Church does commission artists. It’s not on the level that it was during the Renaissance, but there is still art being done for Church purposes.

Someone above mentioned the Los Angeles cathedral and the artwork there. As an example, I love the tapestries done by John Nava.

Even a small – and poor – parish near me commissioned an artist to create a mural in their Blessed Sacrament chapel. One wall had a mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Now another wall has a mural of St. Joseph.

I know of a monk who paints. His work goes to parishes, religious communities, and individuals.

I don’t know if there are many artists who support themselves strictly by their religious art commissions, but then I don’t know how many artists are able to support themselves strictly on their art anyway.
 
Why does the Church have to fund art? Many works of art belonging to the Church were the result of patronage by private individuals, and not just the Church.

Perhaps, if we determine it is important, we could pay for it out of private donations and then donate the art to the Church.

Expecting the Church to be patrons of what we enjoy, is like expecting the government to pay for things we think we can’t live with out…and you know how that goes over with most folks!
 
Boulder257 said:
I remember being in Savanah and they were renovating the Church and had commissioned artists for the job.
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That’s right because you live in the right part of the country - the South.

My parish in Kennesaw Georgia just put in two additional stained glass windows and had two murals painted. We are getting a life size statue of St. Michael the Archangel. We are also producing a full length motion picture titled “Five Blocks Away”.

Y’all come down. 🙂

-Tim-
 
I understand that the Church is still hiring Artists for churches…but I am talking about a global scale to reach the masses. Why isn’t there a film or well produced production to reach this new generation of Catholics? Or even a magazine that caters to new media? The possibility of the Arts are endless.

About the money issue, I’m sure plenty of Artists would be willing to donate their services for free if the Church approached them.
 
Rebirth_Jr said:
I understand that the Church is still hiring Artists for churches…but I am talking about a global scale to reach the masses. Why isn’t there a film or well produced production to reach this new generation of Catholics? Or even a magazine that caters to new media? The possibility of the Arts are endless.

About the money issue, I’m sure plenty of Artists would be willing to donate their services for free if the Church approached them.
Click to expand...
fiveblocksawaymovie.com/

They can use your help.

-Tim-
 
I think I understand what you mean. It seems like, at one time, there seemed to be a culture in the West saturated in arts and such which proclaimed the faith and values. It seemed, at one time, that the enduring and most central arts of the day, many of those that garnered the most attention and stood the test of time, were influenced by the Faith.

I wonder if, hundreds of years from now, the same will be true of our times? If not, then the question would be why not? 🤷
 
Rebirth_Jr said:
That’s good for them, but I mean direct commission from the Vatican. Regardless, we need more works like this.

…I don’t think anyone understands what I’m asking here…lol
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You are right. I don’t understand.

I don’t understand why art has to be commissioned by the Vatican to have global reach to the faithful and be recognized worldwide. Nor do I understand why art in a parish or cathedral can’t be recognized and have an impact outside of that particular place. Madonna of the Harpies by Andrea del Sarto is an example. It was commissioned by nuns in a convent. What about all the artwork in Church of La Sagrada Família in Barcelona or the mosaics in the Cathedral Basillica of St. Louis, Missouri? The movie Bella is an amazing piece of art.

I don’t get why it has to be from the Vatican and why other art doesn’t count. The Sistine Chapel has only one ceiling and that already has a painting on it. And I think they might have shied away from the art world in general when the art world started putting urine and a crucifix in a jar and calling it art or when John Cage sat at a piano for four minutes, didn’t play a single note - dead silence - and they they called it a masterpiece.

I’m no expert but I went to the Gugenheim in NYC years ago and saw people gushing over repetetive soup cans and was like 🤷

-Tim-
 
“It’s too expensive.” Please. Please spare me. Millions of dollars are spent on churches and 2% of that can’t be spent on a piece of beautiful art that will employ an artist instead of a factory?

Commissioned art is like having bespoke clothes made.
 
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