Civilisations - Season 1 Episode 4

Religion is a major domain in art history, possibly from the start in cave paintings, with cosmogony, cultic and magical purposes, votive and funeral, even political practices. It could completely dominate a society and civilization, as in theocratic Pharaonic Egypt. Representation of divinity vary enormously, like zoomorphism, anthropomorphism, stylized or idealized, as in Classical Greek art. It could serve sacrificial, community-building, prestige and didactic purposes; even a whole theological and (socio-)political agenda. Fear of hubris may lead to banning depictions of divinity -and iconoclasm- or even of all life, as in strict interpretations of Islam, leading to alternative styles and promoting fitting techniques, such as stylized or geometric patterns as in Persian carpets, or elaborate abstract decorations in mosaics, tiles, carpentry – Religion-related controversy remains, as in pictorial arts and architecture, opposing novelty to traditions.