Art is an imitation of God’s work, Pope tells museum directors

October 12, 2026

Pope Leo XIV described art as a “creative process through which human beings, in imitation of God’s work, shape matter and imbue it with a transcendent meaning.”

The Pontiff told a group of museum directors on October 10 that “throughout the centuries, the Church has cultivated a special affinity with the arts, appreciating them in all their forms. Indeed, art is the means by which persons, through their ingenuity, enhance and transfigure matter—that is, the creation in which they dwell as made in the image and likeness of God.”

“Matter is available to us, indeed it is a gift entrusted to our care,” Pope Leo said in his audience with members of the Bizot Group, officially known as the International Group of Organizers of Major Exhibitions. “Moreover, matter is malleable: it can be shaped according to the artist’s ideas in order to express an intuition, giving body or sound to emotions, dreams and words.”

“Works of art become a sign of that beauty which reawakens the eyes of the heart and mind, directing the human person towards what is above,” the Pontiff added. “The Church, as a pilgrim through time, has understood art precisely in this way: not as mere aestheticism, but as a means of proclaiming the Gospel through beauty.”

 

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Further information:

• To the Participants in the Meeting of Museum Directors from around the world (Bizot Group) (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 10/10/26)
• Pope: Art is not ‘mere aestheticism’ but a way to share the Gospel (Vatican News, 10/10/26)