If there is one room in your home where you’d like to showcase art, it would be the living room. This is most often where we entertain company and decorate for special seasons like Christmas and Easter. While Bas Relief is an art form that can be secular or sacred, it is one of the most traditional forms of art within the Catholic Church dating back many, many centuries. With that said, there is no reason to exhibit only Catholic Bas Relief Art, but the truth is, this particular art form lends itself well to that which is sacred. To understand what this means, let’s look first at what it is.
Somewhere Between Two Worlds
The rather peculiar thing about Bas Relief Art is that some people refer to it as two-dimensional art while others refer to it as a three-dimensional sculpture. If you look closely at it, Bas Relief Art falls somewhere in between. It is a form of sculpture that is raised a bit off a flat surface, but not quite in 3D. In other words, if it were true three-dimensional art, you’d be able to walk around it, viewing it from all angles.
Bas Relief is simply raised, sort of like it’s been etched into a surface. This video will explain a bit about the process as narrated by an art educator from Miami, Florida. Even the expert has difficulty explaining whether it’s 2D or 3D, so to be accurate, we could say it falls somewhere squarely in between.
Holy Art for Your Catholic Living Room
There are several really lovely pieces of sacred Bas Relief Art available at religious stores online. You often have your choice of mediums ranging in sterling silver, wood, porcelain, and stone. Your choice would probably be dependent upon your décor. If you have hardwood floors and furniture with wooden legs and arms, then a Bas Relief sculpture formed (chiseled) from wood might be ideal.
However, if you have marble tabletops and ashtrays and candy dishes, then perhaps a stone or porcelain piece would best suit your décor. In fact, since each piece depicts either a Biblical setting or a saint, you can even change them from season to season to carry the theme forward. During Lent and Easter, a Bas Relief of the Last Supper would do well, but perhaps during Advent and Christmas, a piece of Bas Relief Art with the Madonna and Christ child would work better.
A True Focal Point for Any Room
Bas Relief Art is almost hypnotic in that it’s hard to take your eyes off it because of the texture created by the sculptor. You will find that just as you often sit gazing at the artistry in the piece hanging on your wall, so too will your guests be almost mesmerized, wanting to reach out and touch the piece as they would with mixed media art.
You will not often see Bas Relief in the living rooms of your acquaintances and this is also one of the reasons why you might want to add one or more pieces to your décor. There’s nothing quite like having something so very different from anyone in your circle of friends and family. It’s interior design at its very best.
