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Biblical Inaccuracies in Religious Art - Alex O'Connor

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Further to the well-known French tradition of upsetting religious sensibilities, last month’s Olympic opening ceremony in Paris provided us with one of the most unique depictions of Jesus in art that Europe has ever produced. While many have attempted to identify a moral wrongness with what was probably a parody of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, I instead want to use this increased attention to talk about the Biblical wrongness certain other religious artistic depictions. So, what does Christian art get wrong? To begin at the beginning, take a look at the following painting by the German renaissance master Lucas Cranach the Elder: A familiar scene, but perhaps not an accurate one. The first question that might arise is this: why do the first humans have belly buttons? Adam was created from dust, and Eve from Adam’s rib, and so it is strange to see them depicted with the vestige of an umbilical cord. It is possible, I suppose, that God simply created them this way. In any case, this is hardly

Further to the well-known French tradition of upsetting religious sensibilities, last month’s Olympic opening ceremony in Paris provided us with one of the most unique depictions of Jesus in art that Europe has ever produced. While many have attempted to identify a moral wrongness with what was probably a parody of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, I instead want to use this increased attention to talk about the Biblical wrongness certain other religious artistic depictions. So, what does Christian art get wrong? To begin at the beginning, take a look at the following painting by the German…

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