Early christian art different types of imagery
The second usage occurs among believers who conceive the term as the God himself, the absolute being or divine force. Firstly, sacred can refer to something that has been marked off for some religious purpose, whether being for a ritual or devotion. The term sacred is commonly used in Western society in two ways. Left: Francesco Bacchiacca - Portrait of a Woman and Child (Allegory of Liberality), 1525-35 / Right: Petrus Christus - A Goldsmith in his Shop, 1449, via So it seems that in order to understand secular art, we need to define sacred art and its role first. But what exactly is secular art? Scholars often contrast the term with that of sacred or religious art. Thus, the emergence of the modern Western artwork is sometimes cast as a slow process of secularization, with the devotional charge of images giving way in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to a focus on the beauty and innovation of the artwork itself.
Reflecting on this new society and its mores, the early secular painting was crucial to the development of modern ideas of art. As the new idea of humanism became prevalent, giving rise to a more secular society, this caused a shift away from a traditional one in which the Church was dominant. Artists and scholars were inspired to go back to the roots of the classical Greek and Roman societies as a means of influencing a new culture. Yet, as the Italian Renaissance progressed, Western culture began to change drastically, allowing for a certain type of secular art to emerge. Up until the Renaissance, art was almost exclusively informed by religious motifs.