[lazide]

So if someone was a good pagan artist, the church was cool with that?

[johnsmith1840]

Looking at religious art and thinking religion destroyed/hampered art is a hot take honestly.

If anything the opposite argument would be that without relgion art has devolved has more merit than this.

[analog31]

As I understand it, being an artist was a trade. If there were no customers asking for pagan art, there would have been no pagan art.

[lazide]

Customers were not allowed to ask for pagan art, on penalty of death for large portions of the time we are talking about.

[ffsm8]

Owning art that was too lifelike was also a death sentence.

Anything that detracted from the grandour of the church was evidence of satanism. So, if you got a painting that looks better then what's on display in church, you were gonna get executed eventually.

[iamacyborg]

Yes, hence there being a lot of obviously pagan art at the Vatican.