Medieval Christians justified images as scripture for the unlettered laity

Evidence

The classic argument against the Islamic position was ‘that men may be attracted through the things they see to invisible things, that through the symbols they may venerate what is symbolised; for, as written materials are the letters of the clergy, so are pictures those of the laity’. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1137 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Artistically, good and evil were represented by color, often in shadings of light and dark. Pierre Remiet, a French illuminator of the fourteenth century, is well known for this convention. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 104 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Images taught the laity as written materials taught the clergy — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1137; Medieval art encoded moral good and evil as light and dark color — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 104

Related

• Images taught the laity as written materials taught the clergy (similarity 0.90)
• Medieval art encoded moral good and evil as light and dark color (similarity 0.88)

Broader Connections

• Images taught the laity as written materials taught the clergy #exemplifies (0.95) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1137
• Medieval art encoded moral good and evil as light and dark color #expands (0.72) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 104