ABSTRACT
The single most obvious characteristic of contemporary art is the variety of the ways in which it is made. The art of painting also derived a special dignity from the task to which painters had been called. There was a role for profane art in decoration and portrait painting, but it was more than anything the making of religious images that defined their craft. No one walking round the church-like rooms of the Sainsbury wing can fail to notice this or to register that, despite occasional excursions into mythology and portraiture, what they are seeing is overwhelmingly a religious art. The almost complete dissociation between contemporary visual art and the religious tradition that has shaped and continues to shape Western culture deprives of this language and is to that extent a loss for everyone. Artists seeking a visual language for their faith may face formidable obstacles.
