A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul. – Johnann Wolfgang von Goethe

I turned on the TV just as the cardinals were entering the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. Once the door closed behind them, they would begin the conclave that would elect Pope Leo XIV. As the cardinals came into the chapel, each one paused, put his right hand on the Book of the Gospels, and sealed his oath not to reveal what happened in the conclave.

As they did, they stood facing The Last Judgment, an enormous (45 × 39 feet) fresco by the Renaissance artist Michelangelo. Inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, the painting was unveiled on October 31, 1541, exactly 24 years after Martin Luther posted the 95 theses that launched the Protestant Reformation.

Five years before Luther’s bold declaration, Michelangelo completed what is widely understood to be his greatest work, the Sistine Chapel Ceiling. Although he had been commissioned to paint the 12 apostles, Michelangelo instead filled the chapel’s ceiling with scenes from the Old Testament.

These frescoes were the largest, but by no means the only, works of art surrounding the cardinals as they prepared themselves for one of their highest duties. As their solemn, unhurried procession unfolded, the news anchor was joined by a gentleman who had spent several years working at the Vatican. She asked how he reacted the first time he set foot in the Sistine Chapel. After a brief pause, he answered:

“I was stunned by the human capacity for beauty.”

This was not the first time I had heard a commentator talk about the beauty of the setting and the moment. But it may have been the first time I heard anyone use the words, “the human capacity for beauty.” That fine-tuned phrase was a welcome reminder that the God who made us in His image created us not only with the innate ability to recognize and enjoy His infinitely varied gifts of beauty, but also with the indelible awareness that shining through the beauty we can access with our physical senses is the One whose very nature is the basis of all beauty, the Triune God.

Sadly, in recent centuries, the notion that God is Beauty (as well as Goodness and Truth) has been scorned in our culture and, for the most part, ignored in our churches. The consequences have been severe. Once we uncritically accept the unbiblical assertion that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it is a very short step to saying the same about goodness and truth.

Offering a valuable corrective, John Hugo notes, “In both the tabernacle and the Solomonic temple, artistic design, metal craft, sculpture, architecture, and textile arts were employed with God’s blessing and special inspiration (Exod. 31:3-11; Chron. 28:11-21). These examples show that God has uses for the artistic skills of people and that art works are fit vehicles for serving Him.” (Emphasis added.)

I believe the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel were well served by the works of Michelangelo, Botticelli, and others. I also believe that Protestants are well served by beautiful things like stained glass windows and paraments, banners and flowers, hymn texts, piano, and organ (pace, Calvin). For I believe that as we intentionally employ our God-given gift of appreciating beauty, not only we will be drawn closer to God, but we will open those doors so that others may follow that path as well.