"None can sense more deeply than you, artists, ingenious creators of
beauty that you are, something of the pathos with which God at the dawn of
creation looked upon, the work of his hands." --John Paul II
The artist, image of God the Creator : A letter to artists by John Paul II
"A glimmer of that feeling has shone so often in your eyes when—like the artists of every age—captivated by the hidden power of sounds and words, colors and shapes, you have admired the work of your inspiration, sensing in it some echo of the mystery of creation with which God
, the One, sole creator of all things, has wished in some way to associate you...'
"What is the difference between creator and a craftsman?
The one who creates bestows being itself, he brings something out of
nothing—
ex nihilo sui et subiecti, as the Latin puts it—and
this, in the strict sense,
is a mode of operation which belongs to the
Almighty alone.
The craftsman, by contrast, uses something that already
exists, to which he gives form and meaning. This is the mode of operation
peculiar to man as made in the image of God. In fact, after saying that
God created man and woman “
in his image”--
Genesis 1:27,
the Bible adds that he entrusted to them the task of dominating the earth .
This was the last day of creation. On the previous days, marking as it were the rhythm of the birth
of the cosmos, Yahweh, God of Love, had created the universe. Finally he created the
human being, the noblest fruit of his design, to whom he subjected the
visible world as a vast field in which human inventiveness might assert
itself.
God therefore
called man into existence, committing to him the
craftsman's task. Through his “artistic creativity” man appears
more than ever “in the image of God,” and he accomplishes this
task above all in shaping the wondrous “material” of his own
humanity and then exercising creative dominion over the universe which
surrounds him.
With loving regard, the divine Artist passes on to the
human artist a spark of his own surpassing wisdom, calling him to share in
his creative power...'
The Vocation of the Artist
"It is important to recognize the distinction, but also the connection, between these two aspects of human activity. The distinction is clear. It is one thing for human beings to be the authors of their own acts, with responsibility for their moral value; it is another to be an artist, able, that is, to respond to the demands of art and faithfully to accept art's specific dictates.
This is what makes the artist capable of producing objects, but it says nothing as yet of his moral character. We are speaking not of moulding oneself, of forming one's own personality, but simply of actualizing one's productive capacities, giving aesthetic form to ideas conceived in the mind.
The distinction between the moral and artistic aspects is fundamental, but no less important is the connection between them. Each conditions the other in a profound way. In producing a work, artists express themselves to the point where their work becomes a unique disclosure of their own being, of what they are and of how they are what they are. And there are endless examples of this in human history.
In shaping a masterpiece, the artist not only summons his work into being, but also in some way reveals his own personality by means of it. For him art offers both a new dimension and an exceptional mode of expression for his spiritual growth. Through his works, the artist speaks to others and communicates with them. The history of art, therefore, is not only a story of works produced but also a story of men and women.
Works of art speak of their authors; they enable us to know their inner life, and they reveal the original contribution which artists offer to the history of culture."
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