Finally made my way up to Monza to see the Duomo’s treasury, and boy was it beautiful! This is a 20th century depiction of Teodolinda offering the Duomo, just like donors would do in old altarpieces. I snuck this shot because the alarm in the background was at the perfect position atop the Duomo, acting as a fake star-burst.
The museum was very well organized, had well translated English plaques, and had the best art I’ve seen my entire semester in Milan. I did get upset, though: all these beautiful objects and reliquaries represent power, concentrated into one beautiful and amazing thing. All that gold and those gems showcase the power the Church had back then, and reminded me of the power it still has now (even if it has diminished).
It made me wonder: what is atheist art? It would never look like that without being facetious, because all that precious material could be used to pay for other things. And I would hope that atheists would rather spend money on helping the poor instead of trying to impress them or brainwash them (as the Church did with these objects). Plus I believe that the majority of atheists (freethinkers, humanists, rationalists, whatEVER) would be scared of having that much power, and for good reason.
And maybe it’s the wrong question to ask, because no one even likes the word “atheist.” Maybe no one wants to connect an art movement to a label that they don’t even think should exist in the first place.
But it’s a question I’m asking just the same: What’s Atheist Art? If atheism was an art movement, what would its characterizations be, and who would its leaders be? What would atheism look like, if we wanted to concentrate our beliefs into a small object? Who would we draw inspiration from? And more importantly: has it already started without me knowing?
