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Shiva Nataraja (Shiva as Lord of the Dance) From South India. Chola dynasty, 11th century CE. Bronze

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This statue of the god Shiva represents many things about his role in the universe through his posture, hand placement and symbols and would have originally been used for worship.
Hinduism has a theme, similar to Shinto, of death and rebirth, or the circle of life, which is hugely naturalistic. Shiva is the god responsible for the creation of the universe, and it's destruction. In this representation he is holding the hand drum that was the sound that first created the universe, and in another he holds the fire that will eventually end it. The cycle, and the flaming halo around Shiva, call back to the Hindu and Indian idea that time is never ending, all things will come and go constantly. This is an important aspect of nature, as it is a natural law, but it is represented through a human-like figure because of their pantheon.

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“The Historical Buddha Preaching,” a section from The Illustrated Sutra of Past and Present Karma, Nara Period, mid-8th century. Ink on paper.

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Buddhism is a much more naturalistic religion, and emphasises the importance of nature, but it is also very individualistic because the ultimate goal of Buddhism is to attain enlightenment, as the first Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama did. In this picture, we see the first Buddha, after attaining enlightenment, preaching to a group of students. His halo and golden skin are a signal to the viewer that he has become enlightened, and a sign of respect, but they should not be confused as elevating him to a god status, as the first Buddha was a historical figure, most likely a real person. This is reflected in the way that he has been painted, although different from the rest, there is a restraint in the amount of extra detail added to him, he stands out but he does not overwhelm the picture. Again, we can see that there is a balance between all of the figures in this painting, the Buddha is slightly larger, but he is not the largest figure, if viewing the picture through the lenses of hierarchy of scale, we would note that the mountain range on the side is larger, but it still does not overwhelm the picture. All of the figures are balanced together, and in harmony with one another.

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Tile Mosaic Mihrab, from the Madrasa Imami, Isfahan, Iran, c. 1354.

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Similar to Christianity, Islam is also humancentric and individualistic, and also features a prophet who is in a lot of the stories told in the Qu'ran. However, unlike Christianity, the representation of the prophet or Allah, the Islamic god, is strictly forbidden. Other religions practice this idea, and it is to avoid the worship of icons rather than the God, which is blasphemous.
Instead, most of Islamic art is made of intricate mosaics and tile patterns, like this Mihrab, or prayer nook. The patterns and colours married together give a bright and contrasting look, which helps the holy words inscribed on the Mihrab stand out and easy to read, as well as aesthetically pleasing.

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Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels, from the Monastery of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai, Egypt, 2nd 1/2 6th c. 

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With the spread of Christianity, there is a large shift towards representations of the person rather than of nature. Humans take on a much more central role and are the focus of the art. Especially divine people are covered in gold, like in this painting of the Virgin Mary and her child, Christ. Beside them stand two saintly soldiers who protect them. This painting would have originally been in a monastery on Mount Sinai.
Christianity is a monotheistic religion that focuses on the relationship between an individual and God. It is about the redemption of the individual to be allowed into heaven. The Bible is very much humancentric also, telling stories about specific people and their actions, with references to nature only being a way that a person can demonstrate their good nature.
In this painting, we only see people, there is not even a background of nature, or any reference to it, because as part of Christianity, the people are what is most important.

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Ise Jingu Shrine, Ise, Mie Prefecture, 2013 latest rebuild, timber.

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The Inner Shrine at Ise Jingu is one of the most sacred Shinto shrines in the entire country. Dedicated to the sun goddess, only specific priests are allowed to enter the inner shrine. In fact, the building style is only allowed to be used in this one place, in order to maintain its uniqueness. Another interesting concept around this building is that it is torn down and rebuilt every 20 years, with the most recent being the 62nd and the 63rd rebuilding taking place in 2033.
This is because of the Shinto view on the cycle of nature. Shinto is a religion very deeply connected with nature, and it predates written records. They have a view of death and rebirth and being part of the cycle of nature, the tearing down of the temple and rebuilding it is representative of this cycle.
This is a contrast from the religions of ancient Egypt and Greece that were much more human focused, and so incorporated nature into their world, and also different from the Taoists incorporating people into nature. We can see this immediately through the subjects and forms of art being so different.

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Fan Kuan, Travelers Among Mountains and Streams, Northern Song, early 11th c. Ink and paper

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In this hanging scroll, a mountain range looms in the background over a stream and a forest. Down by the water are barely recognisable human figures, travelling along the stream, dwarfed by the size of the mountain, which is shrouded in mist and reaches high up the thin paper. This hanging scroll was made for meditative purposes, which is why there is such attention to detail.
The major religions and philosophies at the time were Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Both Taoism and Buddhism have an immense respect for nature, and place a lot of importance on the benefits of nature. Taoist philosophy argues that people should return to the most simple kind of life they could, or even become hermits, because the Tao (the force of the universe and the heavens) is naturalistic and people should emulate the Tao. We can see these philosophies easily through the scale and the detail of the mountains and trees compared to the people. The piece reminds the viewer that humans are a part nature, which is much larger and stronger than them.

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Artemis the Goddess of the Hunt, c.1-2 CE, Imperial Roman. Louvre, Paris. Marble

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Another Goddess, Artemis, or Diana, is the goddess of the hunt and wild animals. This Roman marble copy of an original bronze Greek statue shows Artemis. Originally, the sculpture may have been used for worship around a temple, ultimately it ended up in the palace of Versailles, where is became to be known 'Diana of Versailles', before being moved to the Louvre. Compared to the rigid form and animalistic features of Sekhmet, Artemis in shown to be freer and more natural. She is shown moving forward and drawing an arrow, with a bow probably once being in her other hand. The presence of the deer signifies a balance with nature, although things are hunted, nature and people can be seen to work together.
Greek religion and philosophy tends to focus more on metaphysical questions, but a famous myth that represents the way that the Greeks felt about nature is found in Pandoras Box. When the Titan Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans, the gods responded by creating a beautiful woman, Pandora, who married Prometheus' brother, but gave her a box and told her not to open it. Eventually, she succumbed to curiosity and opened it, unleashing sickness, pain, hunger and other terrible afflictions on to the world. The Greeks believed that nature had no problems before humans came, and therefore should work alongside nature, which is represented here in Artemis.

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The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ljmu/reader.action?docID=214769
Diana
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Diana-Roman-religion
Shinto
https://asiasociety.org/education/shinto
Mihrab
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/449537
Buddha
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/690059
Shiva
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/39328
Hinduism
https://www.history.com/topics/religion/hinduism

Reps, P. and Senzaki, N. (1985). Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. 2nd ed. Vermont: Tuttle.

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Figure of Sekhmet, Late Period Egyptian, 716-30 BC. Bronze. Private Collection

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In ancient Egypt, there are a lot of natural figures represented in art, in hieroglyphics and in the form of their Gods. Living in such an early period, their landscape was mostly untouched, although they built large temples, palaces and burial sites. The reason ancient Egypt was able to flourish in the way that it did is due to the yearly flooding on the Nile river, which provided fertile land which were ideal for agriculture. Because of this, a theme of nature and respect for nature can be seen in other art, but the presence of gods with animal heads is one of the most commonly seen forms. However, the Egyptians did not seem to feel that they lived in tandem with nature, but rather that they dominated it; other artworks show scenes of glorious hunting to demonstrate the strength of their pharaohs.
The reason the gods are so interesting though, is because their bodies are human, and strong. Here is Sekhmet, the lion goddess of war and a goddess that carried out the will of the sun god. Her lioness head represents her fierceness in battle, whilst her body is seated in a pose seen often in sculptures of pharaohs. The figure is one of many that were worshipped daily in order to placate the ferocious goddess.
We can see that nature was not something to live in harmony with, but a strong force that can be beneficial and something to overcome.

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Throughout history, art is a representation of the culture it is made in, it reflects the artist personally and as part of a larger society. Very early art can sometimes be mistaken to hold a religious, almost mystical value, but religion is much more a reflection of a more solid society actually forming, especially when there is consistency amongst religious traditions. A good example of this is ancient Egypt, one of the most notorious ancient civilisations who had a complex belief system and pantheon of Gods, but who were generally worships for consistent reasons, and this religion survived for thousands of years. They built large temples to their gods, participated in rituals and worship, and placed great importance on their idea of the afterlife. All of these things necessitate a society which works together and is organised. But religion is a product of society, as well as an influence on it. Ultimately, specific religious practices are developed over years by people, but traditions are also a ruling force in many people’s lives, particularly in history.

So what is this relationship between society and its religion? How does religion affect things beyond simply worshipping? This exhibition studies particularly the relationship between religion, nature and man. Our attitude to nature is something that is very much based on the type of dominant culture around at the time, and this varies through place and time. Something important to keep in mind is that there are many different kinds of religion, there are monotheistic and pantheistic, meaning there is one god, or a group of them. Some religions don’t feature a god at all. Religions also seek to answer different questions, Zen Buddhism for example doesn’t attempt to answer any metaphysical questions about why we are here or what the state of the world is, it is much more focused on meditation and enlightenment. This is in stark contrast to Christianity, which features an omnibenevolent, omnipresent and omniscient God, which answers the question of how the earth and the universe came to be, and offers instruction on living a good life, but from an outward rule, whereas Buddhists aim for the goodness to have come to them personally though meditation.

This exhibition studies a variety of cultures and their religion and relationship with nature through art, in different mediums.