Major religions—Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism (35.0), Shinto, Daoism, Christianity (35.1), Judaism—incorporate art, language, music, movement (e.g., during rituals), and numbers. As such, all religions use the major modes of human knowledge and communication for high forms of human expression.
Religion is based on devotion. Devotion is piety, prayer or private worship, ceremony, and dedication to a higher ideal. Worship honors and shows reverence for the divine; it expresses awe and gratitude for a higher power. In all these endeavors, every religion has incorporated art. It might be as simple as providing an image of a particular god or illustrating crucial virtues. It might be as elaborate as shrines and great houses of worship.
In some people’s opinions, art is sublimated by religion, but perhaps we should think back to primitive art. Who’s to say whether cave paintings (35.2) and objects like the Venus of Willendorf (35.3) or the carvings of Africa (35.4) might not have had devotion and worship as part of the motivation for their creation?
Religion and art go hand in hand. Some make a distinction between secular and sacred art, but that may not always be a useful division. Art comes from inside the artist as a response to the world. That response is often devotion and reverence.
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Buddha of Medicine Bhaishajyaguru (Yaoshi fo). Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). ca. 1319. China. Water-based pigment over foundation of clay mixed with straw. H. 24 ft. 8 in. (751.8 cm); W. 49 ft. 7 in. (1511.3 cm). TheMet.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/42716
Hall of The Cloisters. 1935–1939.
https://www.metmuseum.org/plan-your-visit/met-cloisters
Palmesel. 15th century. Made in Franconia, Germany. German. Limewood with paint. Overall (w/ base): 61 1/2 x 23 3/4 x 54 1/2 in., 182lb. (156.2 x 60.3 x 138.4 cm, 82554.7g). The Cloisters.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/471557
The Scene of the Dead Man. est. 20,000 years old. Lascaux, France.
https://www.bradshawfoundation.com/lascaux
Venus of Willendorf. c. 25,000 BP. Red ochre. 11.1-centimetre-tall (4.4 in). Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_of_Willendorf
Figure of a Kneeling Woman. ca. 1500. Mali. Dogon (Soninke) peoples. Wood. H. 13 7/8 × W. 2 3/4 × D. 3 3/4 in. (35.2 × 7 × 9.5 cm). TheMet.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/688887
Seated Male Figure with Lance. 16th–19th century. Mali, Bougouni or Dioila region. Bamana peoples. Wood, pigment. H. 35 1/2 in. × W. 9 in. × D. 13 1/2 in. (90.2 × 22.9 × 34.3 cm). TheMet.