HOME | DD

Description
As a student I studied 16th Century European History, which is where I first learnt about the iconoclast riots that occurred during the Reformation - I suspect those events were probably foremost in my mind when I chose the title for this piece. I’m not religious, but I am influenced and inspired by religious art, and therefore, I find this form of iconoclasm particularly absurd and despicable. It's a tragedy that so many great works of art have been lost forever, and a stark warning that we must always judge cultural artifacts according to their beauty and craftsmanship, and not the religious or political messages they represent. To some extent I think it was the Church’s fault for instilling their paintings and sculptures with such divine reverence in the first place – as far as the peasants were concerned they were smashing the authority of their religious masters, rather than smashing religious masterpieces.

Description
As a student I studied 16th Century European History, which is where I first learnt about the iconoclast riots that occurred during the Reformation - I suspect those events were probably foremost in my mind when I chose the title for this piece. I’m not religious, but I am influenced and inspired by religious art, and therefore, I find this form of iconoclasm particularly absurd and despicable. It's a tragedy that so many great works of art have been lost forever, and a stark warning that we must always judge cultural artifacts according to their beauty and craftsmanship, and not the religious or political messages they represent. To some extent I think it was the Church’s fault for instilling their paintings and sculptures with such divine reverence in the first place – as far as the peasants were concerned they were smashing the authority of their religious masters, rather than smashing religious masterpieces.