Spiritual masterpieces can be worshipped by all

Religion inspires great art. But hang on. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster and leader of English and Welsh Catholics, has provocatively suggested returning one of the greatest works in London’s National Gallery to a Catholic church because it is a mistake, he claims, to see Piero della Francesca’s Baptism of Christ as a work of art. He is quoted in the Times as saying that the Baptism is not art but “a work of faith and piety, an expression of the Church’s life and a way into prayer.” It should be placed in a Catholic church where it belongs.

I don’t know to what extent the archbishop is being deliberately provocative - but his comment as quoted in the Times is ignorant and insensitive under its veneer of anthropological subtlety. It is undoubtedly true that a painting like Piero’s Baptism is deeply embedded in late medieval religious life. It was commissioned for a church in the artist’s native town of Borgo Sansepolcro on the borders of Tuscany and Umbria. Its eventual removal from that church to hang in an art gallery is a radical change of context. Art historians and social historians can provide much information to flesh out the claim that art in Renaissance Italy was deeply involved with everyday religious life. But the archbishop is missing so much about this painting and this artist. Read Article

By Jonathan Jones