A shrine may be personal, private, even secret. It is a place where votive objects (models of limbs, figures, charms) are collected, where sacrifices are made, where curious memorials, fading flowers, dishes of food, are left. Here gods are propitiated, saints appealed to, spirits appeased. The aesthetic is one of unplanned accumulation. Churches and temples, on the other hand, are monumental, their ceremonies public: their architecture and decoration make sense. The shrine can be intensely personal, amateur, and is often made - sometimes with obsessive care - from whatever comes to hand. Churches and their art are professionally assembled from recognised materials.

LRB 8 April 2010 | PDF Download