Introduction

The arts in their deepest essence can be called "grandchildren of God."(1) Goethe speaks of the artist as one who "is to be regarded as one who preserves what is recognized as holy and who with seriousness and prudence wants to propagate it."(2)
God, as the creator of all being, is eternal beauty, the primordial beauty, "the origin and end of all things."(3)
All his works carry a reflection of his being. Thus God is the mysterious original source of all art.
"God himself has first generated his only-begotten Son, his Word, a living image of himself, a natural, immutable expression of his eternity, and he has created man in his image and likeness."(4)
We are currently searching for a new epochal style, especially in religious and sacred art; we are wondering according to which criteria art both is sacred and corresponds to the times.
Thus, for the Church, closely connected with the above problem is the question whether a concrete work of art, which is intended to be both religious and contemporary at the same time, is also in keeping with the apostolic nature of Christian sacred art and whether it is suited as a work to the glorification of God. So the question is whether, in a time when all values are questioned, it adheres to that healthy mean in which the enduring religious content expresses itself in a manner convincing to the time.
"The beauty of a work of art is the more intensive the purer the way the mind of the artist reflects the divine order and the more validly and the more convincingly he manifests it."(5)
Here the decision cannot always be made with absolute certainty. After all, works of art do not correspond to thought-up mathematical problems.
Nevertheless one should not forget the words of the well-known art experts Prof. Hans Sedlmayr and Prof. Karl Frank, who have often pointed to the dangers of an art that dismisses all order: "From the total disturbance of the old order, from the de-sacralization and de-Christianization of life, from the abandonment of the dignity of man and his being created in God's image, inevitably result those flagrant deviations and blasphemous caricatures in the representation of holy persons, which neither respect the sacred nor the divine image in man...."(6)
Attempts to strive for new compositions and to experiment with artistic techniques can only succeed if in their approach they are not only concerned about perfected artistic developments, but also, and above all, about the origin, about the framework given by God in his creative activity, i.e., created man, created nature.
"Christian art especially is bound in its presentations to the image of man. One may consider this a limitation, but on the other hand one knows that a lack of relations is contrary to the nature of art. Pure form, color by itself, cannot convey religious content any more than a light beam."(7)
At the end of the day one has to say that every "reduction," "abstraction," or "dissolution" is going to come to a point where there will be nothing left to reduce or abstract.
"The 'installations' have proven to be a dead end just as the 'actions.' They have become a dead ritual.... True universal capability, including knowledge of 'classical' forms of expression, is a prerequisite to a renewal of the arts."(8)
The point here is not to argue against a meaningful "abstraction," but to warn against the dangers of nihilism, stemming from a false understanding of freedom in the arts. After all, what matters, especially in Christian sacred art, is neither the mere naturalistic imitation of reality nor the composition of abstract concepts, but a symbolic field of tension, which is brought about by a spiritual and artistic balance of both.
A new reflection on the spiritual and religious foundations of our tradition, a deepening of our religious life, a creative engagement with the faith of the Church and the problems of man, as well as a struggle for current, up-to-date, and qualitatively high expressions will give new stimuli to Christian sacred art and to art in general.
The point of departure, framework, and structure of every human production must always remain our God-given human nature, presented to us in its most perfect form in the aim towards which we must strive, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, who is "the proper and true image of man."(9)