God Painting comprises a mind-boggling body of work encompassing continents, periods and cultures. From the colorful Hindu Paintings to the Somber Sikh Paintings this genre is truly versatile.
Christian Paintings have been associated with the life of the Church since times immemorial. Not only have they ornamented churches but were the only form of art in the Christian world for a long time.
The Church in Europe was an overwhelmingly powerful enterprise, which exercised control over each and every aspect of Christian living. Therefore Christian Paintings were seen as a propaganda tool of this enterprise. But its truly remarkable that such a sublime school of painting should develop from a doctrine, which had a purely religious base. A painting according to the church “conceals the strength of the Gospel under a coarser, but more expressive form. The picture is to the illiterate what the written word is to the educated."
Christian Paintings were supposed to educate the illiterate and coarse Christians with the concepts of Christianity. Therefore there was this need to be simplistic, which ensured that these paintings were devoid of any pretensions.
Sikh Paintings primarily deals with portraits. They depict historical characters and events. They attempt to give us a comprehensive understanding of the political struggle that gave birth to Sikhism and the distinct roles played by certain individuals in that struggle.
The tranquil face of Guru Gobind Singh when juxtaposed with a scene of ferocious battle shows the vast range of Sikh Paintings. Winding floral patterns on the walls of the Golden temple shows the artistic merit of them and mixture of styles shows the colorful history of Sikh Paintings.
Indeed Sikh Paintings have the color, range, history and artistic merit to rival any other art form of the world.
Hindu epics and Puranas make for sumptuous food for imagination. They are replete with colorful and fascinating gods, goddesses and characters, whose visual representations (i.e. Hindu Paintings) are equally imaginative.
Colorful portraits of Hindu Gods and Goddesses adorn the walls and puja rooms (prayer rooms) of almost every Hindu household in India. In fact it can be safely said that these Hindu Paintings have today become a part of the Indian psyche.
There are many other examples of God Paintings and the aforementioned ones are probably just a fraction of the entire body. Religion has the great power to heal and the pictorial representation of religious deities will be always venerated. So God Paintings will always be a popular genre.
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