Gallery

Co-ordinator of the programme, Professor Ben Quash – King’s College London’s first Professor of Christianity and the Arts – describes the unique opportunity it provides:

“There are rich Catholic and Orthodox traditions of visual imagery that are alive and well today, and it is a much remarked-on phenomenon that the traditional Protestant churches have in recent years abandoned their traditional distrust of images and begun to embrace the possibilities of visual culture.

“Many departments of theology and religious studies seek to study these ancient traditions and new developments. What few of them have, however, is the phenomenal resource of London’s artistic heritage on their doorstep.”

The National Gallery is one of the greatest art collections in the world, spanning five centuries of Western European painting, including many masterpieces. A large proportion of its paintings treat specifically Christian themes and subject matter. This MA is designed to encourage theological reflection on these great works of visual culture.