via The Tatler Philippines, 12 May 2021: A look at the Christian-influenced visual art of the Philippines.
One of the key impacts on our country’s art form is the Catholic influence brought to us 500 years ago. We look back at how religious art in the Philippines was born and how it continues to shape the local art scene to this day
Religious art has been one of the most effective tools by propagators of any faith, such as the Catholics. Through paintings, sculptures, metalworks and architecture, the scenes from the Bible and other dogmatic teachings of the Church were introduced and engraved into the consciousness of the catechised people. It is no wonder then that the Filipino artists learnt to master the visual arts from the Spanish friars, espousing European standards of sublimity for such creative form.
