The function of art : address / of Pope Pius XII.


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THE FUNCTION OF ART
An address by His Holiness Pope Pius XII to a group of

Italian artists received in audience on April 8, 1952

.

1. With deep satisfaction, beloved sons and daughters,
promoters of the figurative arts, We welcome your devout
homage and that of your families, by reason of your coming
to Us on the occasion of the sixth Roman quadrennial
meeting, and We express to you Our pleasure for the re-
membrance-gift which you are leaving with Us.

2. How delightful your presence is to Us is shown by
the tradition itself of the Roman pontificate. As the heir
of universal culture it has never ceased to appreciate art,
to surround itself with works of art, to make art, within
due limits, the collaborator of its divine mission, preserv-
ing and elevating its destiny, which is to guide the soul
to God.

3. Upon crossing the threshold of this house of the com-
mon Father, you felt as though you were in your own world,
perceiving yourselves and your ideals in the masterpieces
gathered here throughout the centuries. Nothing is lack-
ing therefore to make this meeting mutually delightful
between the Successor, though unworthy, of those Pontiffs
who shone as generous patrons of the arts, and you who
continue the Italian artistic tradition.

4. It is needless to explain to you—who feel it within
yourselves, often as a noble torment—one of the essential
characteristics of art, which consists in a certain intrinsic
‘affinity’ of art with religion, which in certain ways renders
artists interpreters of the infinite perfections of God, and
particularly of the beauty and harmony of God’s creation.

5. The function of all art lies in fact in breaking through
the narrow and tortuous enclosure of the finite, in which
man is immersed while living here below, and in providing
a window to the infinite for his hungry soul.

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6. Thus it follows that any effort—and it would be a vain
one, indeed—aimed at denying or suppressing any relation
between art and religion must impair art itself. Whatever
artistic beauty one may wish to grasp in the world, in
nature and in man, in order to express it in sound, in color,
or in plays for the masses, such beauty cannot prescind
from God. Whatever exists is bound to Him by an essential
relationship. Hence, there is not, neither in life nor in art

—

be it intended as an expression of the subject or as an in-
terpretation of the object—the exclusively “human,” the
exclusively “natural” or “immanent.”

7. The greater the clarity with which art mirrors the
infinite, the divine, the greater will be its possibility for
success in striving toward its ideal and true, artistic accom-
plishment. Thus, the more an artist lives religion, the bet-
ter prepared he will be to speak the language of art, to
understand its harmonies, to communicate its emotions.

8. Naturally, We are far from thinking that in order to be
interpreters of God in the sense just mentioned, artists
must treat explicitly religious subjects. On the other hand,
one cannot question the fact that never, perhaps, has art
reached its highest peaks as it has in these subjects.

9. In this manner, the great masters of Christian arts
became interpreters, not only of the beauty but also of the
goodness of God, the Revealer and Redeemer. Marvelous
exchange of services between Christianity and art! From
their Faith they drew sublime inspirations. They drew
hearts to the Faith when for continuous centuries they com-
municated and spread the truths contained in the Holy
Scriptures, truths inaccessible, at least directly, to the
humble people.

10. In truth, artistic masterpieces were known as the
“Bible of the people,” to mention such noted examples as
the windows of Chartres, the door of Ghiberti (by happy
expression known as the Door of Paradise), the Roman
and Ravenna mosaics and the facade of the Cathedral of
Orvieto. These and other masterpieces not only translate
into easy reading and universal language the Christian

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truths, they also communicate the intimate sense and
emotion of these truths with an effectiveness, lyricism and
ardor that, perhaps, is not contained in even the most fer-
vent preaching.

11. Souls ennobled, elevated and prepared by art, are thus
better disposed to receive the religious truths and the
grace of Jesus Christ. This is one of the reasons why the
Sovereign Pontiffs, and the Church in general, honored and
continue to honor art and to offer its works as a tribute of
human beings to God’s Majesty in His churches, which
have always been abodes of art and religion at the same
time.

12. Beloved children, crown your artistic ideals with those
of religion, which revitalize and integrate them. The artist
is of himself a privileged person among men, but the
Christian artist is, in a certain sense, a chosen one, because
it is proper to those chosen to contemplate, to enjoy and
to express God’s perfections.

13. Seek God here below in nature and in man, but above
all within yourselves. Do not vainly try to give the human
without the divine, nor nature without its Creator. Harmon-
ize instead the finite with the infinite, the temporal with
the eternal, man with God, and thus you will give the
truth of art and the true art.

14. Even without making it a specific aim, endeavor to
educate men’s hearts—so easily inclined toward materialism
—toward kindness and a spiritual feeling; you to whom it
is given to speak a language which all peoples can under-
stand. Strive to bring men closer to one another. May the
artist’s vocation, for which you are indebted to God, lead
you to this mission : a mission so noble and worthy that it
is sufficient in itself to give to your daily life—often harsh
and arduous—its fullness and a courageous faith.
15. In order that these Our wishes may be fulfilled and
God glorified in your art, We invoke upon you and your
families an abundance of heavenly favors and may the
Apostolic Blessing which We impart upon you from the
fulness of Our heart be a promise of them.

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ON SACRED ART
An instruction issued to Catholic Bishops of the world by

the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office on
June 30, 1952.

1. It is the function and duty of sacred art, by reason of
its very definition, to enhance the beauty of the house of
God and to foster the faith and piety of those who gather
in the church to assist at the divine service arid to implore
heavenly favors. Wherefore sacred art has always been
cultivated by the Church with assiduous care and vigilant
interest in order that it might be in complete harmony
with its own proper laws which stem from supernatural
doctrine and true asceticism and thereby rightly vindicate
for itself the title “sacred.”

2. Consequently the words which the Supreme Pontiff,
Blessed Pius X, uttered when promulgating the wise norms
concerning sacred music, are truly appropriate to this sub-
ject. “Nothing therefore should have place in the church
which disturbs or even merely diminishes the piety and de-
votion of the faithful, nothing which might reasonably be
considered in bad taste or cause of scandal, nothing above
all which . . . might be unworthy of the house of prayer
and the majesty of God.” 1

3. Wherefore in the early history of the Church the Second
Council of Nicea, by condemning the heresy of the Icono-
clasts, confirmed the cult of sacred images and threatened
with severe penalties those who dared “to wickedly invent
anything contrary to ecclesiastical institution.” 2

4. The Council of Trent in its 25th session issued prudent
laws concerning Christian iconography and concluded its
serious exhortation to Bishops with these words: “Finally
let Bishops exercise such diligence and care concerning
these matters that nothing distorted may meet the eye,

*Motu Proprio Tra le sollecitudini, 22 Nov. 1903; Acta Pii X, vol 1,
p. 75.

* Actio

7*

* et ultima definitio Synodi II"*, Mansi, Sacr. Cone., XIII,
col. 730.

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nothing distorted and confused in execution, nothing unbe-
fitting and unbecoming, since sanctity belongs to the house
of God.”

»

5. In order that the decree of the Council of Trent con-
cerning sacred images be faithfully executed, Urban VIII
added appropriate norms, affirming, “Let those objects
which are exposed to the gaze of the faithful be neither
disordered nor unusual in appearance, and let them en-
gender devotion and piety.” 4

6. Finally the Code of Canon Law gathers all the legisla-
tion of the Church on sacred art under summary headings
(can. 485, 1161, 1162, 1164, 1178, 1261, 1268, 1269 #1,
1279, 1280, 1385, 1399).

7. Worthy of explicit mention are the prescriptions of
canon 1261 which obliges Ordinaries to vigilance, “especial-
ly lest anything be admitted into divine worship which is
foreign to the faith or not in harmony with ecclesiastical
tradition;” and also canon 1399, 12° which “prohibits by
the law itself images, no matter how produced, which are
foreign to the mind and decrees of the Church.”

8. Recently the Apostolic See reprobated corrupt and er-
rant forms of sacred art. Of no moment are the objections
raised by some that sacred art must be adapted to the
necessities and conditions of the present times. For sacred
art, which originated with Christian society, possesses its
own ends, from which it can never diverge, and its proper
function, which it can never desert. Wherefore Pius XI of
happy memory, inaugurated the new Vatican Gallery of
Paintings with a discourse on sacred art. Having recalled
the so called “new art,” he added these momentous words:
“With masters of art and with Holy Pontiffs we have al-
ready many times expressed the thought: that Our hope,
Our ardent desire, Our will can only be that the law of the
Church be obeyed, so clearly formulated and sanctioned in

* Sess. XXV, De invocatione, vener, et Reliquiis Sand, et sacris
Imafrinibus.

* Sacrosancta Tridentxna, #1, die xv mensis Martii anno MDCXLII,
nullarium Romanian, Taurinen. editio, XV, 171.

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the Code of Canon Law
;
that is, that such art be not ad-

mitted into our churches, and all the more that it be not
called upon to construct, to remodel or to decorate them;
rather open wide the portals and tender sincere welcome
to every good and progressive development of the approved
and venerable traditions, which in so many centuries of
Christian life, in such diversity of circumstances and of
social and ethnic conditions, have given stupendous proof
of their inexhaustible capacity of inspiring new and beauti-
ful forms, as often as they were investigated, or studied
and cultivated under the two-fold light of genius and
faith.” 6

9. Recently Pius XII, now happily reigning, in the Ency-
clical Letter On the Sacred Liturgy (November 20, 1947),
concisely and clearly formulated the duties of Christian
art : "It is eminently fitting that the art of our times have
a free opportunity to serve the sacred edifices and sacred
rites with due reverence and with due honor

;
so that it too

may add its voice to the magnificent hymn of glory which
men of high talent have sung throughout the passing cen-
turies of the Catholic faith. Nevertheless in consciousness
of Our office we cannot but deplore and reprove those
images and forms recently introduced by some, which seem
to be deformations and debasements of sane art, and which
at times are even in open contradiction to Christian grace,
modesty and piety, and miserably offend true religious
sentiment; these indeed are to be totally excluded and ex-
pelled from our churches as

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in general whatever is out of
harmony with the holiness of the place' (can. 1178).” 6

10. After attentively considering all these points, this
Supreme Sacred Congregation, deeply anxious to preserve
the faith and piety of the Christian people through sacred
art, has decreed that the following rules should be recalled
to the attention of the Ordinaries throughout the world,
in order that the forms and methods of sacred art may
fully correspond to the beauty and holiness of God's house.

11. Concerning architecture.—Sacred architecture, al-
# Sermo diei 27 Oct. 1932, A.A.S., XXIV (1932), p. 356.
•A.A.S., XXXIX (1947), p. 590 s.

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though it may adopt new styles, cannot in any way be
equated with profane building, but must always perform
its own office, which regards the house of God and the
house of prayer. In addition, in building churches care
should be had of the convenience of the faithful, so that
they can take part in the divine offices with a better view
and better attention ; let new churches be resplendent also
for the simple beauty of their lines, abhorring all deceit-
ful adornment; but still everything that savours of a
neglect of art or of a want of pains should be avoided.

12. In can. 1162, #1, warning is given: “that no Church
shall be built without the express consent in writing of the
Ordinary of the place, which cannot be given by the Vicar
General without a special mandate.”

13. In can. 1164, # : “Ordinaries shall see to it, taking
counsel of experts it need be, that in the construction and
remodeling of Churches traditional Christian styles of
architecture and the laws of sacred art be observed.”

14. This Supreme Sacred Congregation strictly enjoins
that the prescriptions of cc. 1268, #2 and 1269, #1 be
religiously observed: “The most Blessed Eucharist should
be kept in the most distinguished and honourable place in
the church, and hence as a rule at the main altar unless
some other be considered more convenient and suitable for
the veneration and worship due to so great a Sacrament
. . . The most Blessed Eucharist must be kept in an im-
movable tabernacle set in the middle of the altar.”

15. About descriptive art.—(1). According to the pres-
cription of can. 1279: “No one may place or cause to be
placed in churches, even though they be exempt, or in other
sacred places, any unusual image, unless it has been ap-
proved by the Ordinary of the place.”

16. (2). “And the Ordinary shall not approve of images
to be exposed publicly for the veneration of the faithful, if
they are not in conformity with the approved usage of the
Church” (#2).

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17. (3). “The Ordinary shall never permit to be shown
in churches or other sacred places, images which represent
a false dogma, or which are not sufficiently decent and
moral, or which would be an occasion of dangerous error to
the unlearned” (#3).

18. (4). If there are lacking experts on the diocesan Com-
missions, or doubts or controversies arise, let the local
Ordinaries consult the metropolitan Commissions or the
Roman Commission on sacred art.

19. (5). According to the norm of canons 485 and 1178,
the Ordinaries should see to it that everything is removed
from sacred buildings which is in any way contrary to the
holiness of the place and the reverence due to the house of
God; and let them severely forbid second rate and stereo-
typed statues and effigies to be multiplied, and improperly
and absurdly exposed to the veneration of the faithful on
the altars themselves or on the neighboring walls of the
chapels.

20. (6). Let Bishops and religious Superiors refuse per-
mission to edit books, papers or periodicals, in which there
are printed pictures foreign to the sentiment and decrees of
the Church (cf. can. 1385 and 1399, 12°).

21. In order that the local Ordinaries may more safely
demand and receive from the Diocesan Commission for
Sacred Art advice, which is in perfect harmony with the
prescriptions of the Apostolic See and the end of sacred
art itself, they should see to it themselves that those ap-
pointed to the Commission are not only experts in art but
also firmly adhere to the Christian faith, have been brought
up to piety, and gladly follow the precise principles defined
by ecclesiastical authority.

22. And works of painting, sculpture and architecture
should be entrusted for their execution only to men, who
are outstanding for their technique, and who are capable
of expressing sincere faith and piety, which is the purpose
of any sacred art.

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23. Finally care should be taken that aspirants to sacred
orders in schools of philosophy and theology be educated in
sacred art and formed to its appreciation, in a way adapted
to the ability and age of each one, by masters who reverence
what our ancestors cherished and established and comply
with the prescriptions of the Holy See.

24. Given at Rome, from the Sacred Office, on June the
30th, 1952.

JOSEPH CARD. PIZZARDO, Secretary
Alaphridus Ottaviani, Assessor.

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