A Comparative Study of the Meaning of Embodiment and its Manifestation in Islamic and Christian Arts

Abstract Different religions’ approaches to the meaning of visualization and portraiture at times have been instruments for religious development and propaganda and at times coupled with prohibitions and limitations imposed by the devout. Although religious beliefs must be accounted as the main motivations in the creation of arts but setting artistic limitations or prohibitions in the humanoid art by religious teachings should be considered as one of the most significant factors in the formation of art in various eras. The two religions of Islam and Christianity as the greatest foundations of artistic creations have each presented a special application of religious art. Review of the common aspects or differences in expression of art in the two religions clarifies important points with regards to the influence of spiritual beliefs and religious teachings on the artistic incentives. The comparative study here determines that the aesthetic and visual expression are different in the Islamic and Christian arts in the sense that in Islamic arts the emphasis lies on the element of abstraction more than tangible and realistic elements which in turn stems from Islamic beliefs and teachings based on lack of inclination towards iconography. On the contrary, in Christian arts the artistic creation is more objective and in an embodied form. In this sense therefore, the Islamic and Christian arts are essentially different in the manifestation of the meaning of embodiment in art and both follow different approaches in artistic form as well as context.