Sign and Symbols - Holy Mary

This film offered a lot of information about the development of religious signs and symbols in art.  The way that individuals and ideas were represented and how beliefs became stronger as time past and faith grew with the power that the art held.  These artistic representation of events years after they had happened became the forward thought for belief.  The expression, posture, implied mannerisms, and relationships that a group of artists chose to use as their medium for expression was what beliefs were built on.  These people didn’t see the scenes that they depicted.  They heard the stories and interpreted them with their own vision.  What religion does is takes these neutral mediums, canvas and pigment, and brings them alive with power and faith.  Could those materials organized in a different form have had the same power if it was believed to hold the same significance as when they are in the form of religious figures?  I have in mind the portrait of the Holy Mary that was passed around and stollen by different churches in Italy because of the safety that it offered for those who believed in it so much that it became a centerpiece for the alter of the new church.  Does this painting take on the spirit of the woman it depicts or is it the faith enough to make the people who believe stronger.  Signs and symbols are a huge part of present and past society and will continue to provide an industry for artists.