There are no statues in God’s house. Nor are there any paintings. No, all the art is in bas relief.
That is to say, we are all living stones, piled on each other to form the house of God. But none of us gets to stand in the center of the room and perform no other function than to look good. Every one of us is structural. We perform a legitimate function in the building. We are walls or flooring, ductwork or piping. Pershaps some of us are windows or doors. But none of us is a statue that just sits there and looks good. But God is no stark utilitarian. He doesn’t want his walls to go bare. Every aspect is beautiful, shaped with craft and artistry. Function comes before form in God’s house, but there is great form.
At the same time, the artwork in God’s house isn’t superficial. It hasn’t been pasted on, or hung over the structure of the walls. It can’t be moved from one place to another – today one wall portrays a certain picture, the next day, another. No, the beauty and character of every part of the house of God comes from the intrensic shape of things.
So every part of the house of God is beautiful, carved and shaped in a careful way, every wall in bas relief.
neumatikos 