NARRATOR: SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL, ART HAS BEEN USED TO EXPRESS OUR DEEPEST SPIRITUAL LONGINGS.

IT HAS GIVEN US BREATHTAKING MASTERPIECES, ENCHANTING SOME WITH THE VISION OF ONE TRUE GOD AND OTHERS WITH A DEEPLY PERSONAL REVELATION ABOUT THE DIVINE SPIRIT WITHIN THEM.

SOME FAITHS SEE ART AS A CHALLENGE TO GOD'S PRIMACY OVER CREATION, OTHERS AS A CELEBRATION AND MANIFESTATION OF A HIGHER CALLING.

THE SEARCH FOR SPIRITUAL MEANING THROUGH ART, WHETHER IN ITS CREATION OR ITS EXPERIENCE, CONTINUES TO MOVE, CAPTIVATE, AND ENTHRALL HUMANITY.

DEEP BENEATH THIS ROCKY PEAK LIES WHAT MAY BE ONE OF HUMANKIND'S OLDEST SACRED PLACES.

LOCATED HUNDREDS OF FEET INTO THE ROCK, THE CAVES OF MONTE CASTILLO IN NORTHERN SPAIN WERE ONCE SHROUDED IN A PERMANENT VEIL OF COMPLETE DARKNESS.

BUT CAST A LIGHT ON THEIR WALLS, AND THEY ARE TRANSFORMED.

FROM TINY RED DOTS DATED TO MORE THAN 40,000 YEARS AGO TO STENCILED HANDS, MYSTERIOUS GEOMETRIC PATTERNS, AND REPRESENTATIONS OF PREHISTORIC ANIMALS, THESE BREATHTAKING IMAGES HAVE BEEN DUBBED THE SISTINE CHAPEL OF ROCK ART.

WHOEVER CREATED THIS ART AND WHATEVER THEY BELIEVED, ONE THING IS UNDENIABLE-- THIS WAS A SACRED SPACE THAT HELPED TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER.

WOMAN: WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CIVILIZATION, WE MEAN HUMAN SOCIETIES.

AND I THINK THAT ART CAN BE A PLACE THAT PEOPLE SHARE THEIR FEELINGS, SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS.

IT CAN SERVE SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF ALL KINDS.

SO IF WE'RE THINKING ABOUT WHAT IT IS THAT MAKES A WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE INTO A CIVILIZATION, I THINK IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE TO THINK OF ART AS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THAT CIVILIZATION RESTS ON.

NARRATOR: SOME 35,000 YEARS OLD AND CARVED FROM MAMMOTH IVORY BY A FLINT KNIFE, THIS IS THE LION MAN.

IT WAS DISCOVERED IN A CAVE IN SOUTHERN GERMANY.

ONE OF THE OLDEST OBJECTS OF AN IMAGINARY BEING EVER DISCOVERED, IT WAS CARVED OVER HUNDREDS OF PAINSTAKING HOURS.

SOME ARCHEOLOGISTS BELIEVE IT SYMBOLIZES A CONNECTION TO THE SUPERNATURAL.

MAN: I MADE A REPLICA OF THE FAMOUS LION MAN FROM ELEPHANT IVORY, WHICH WAS LEGALLY IMPORTED.

YEAH, THE MOST TIME-CONSUMING PART OF THE WORK WAS SETTING FREE THE ARMS, BECAUSE I HAD TO TAKE A VERY TINY TOOL AND MAKE GROOVES LIKE THIS AND GO SCRATCHING LIKE THIS, AND JUST SCRATCH AND SCRATCH.

AND YOU ALWAYS TAKE AWAY A VERY, VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF IVORY.

SO IT WAS HOURS, HOURS AND DAYS AND DAYS AND WEEKS OF SCRATCHING.

IT MUST HAVE BEEN TAKING THE ORIGINAL ARTIST ABOUT 450 OR 500 HOURS.

I DON'T KNOW.

IF YOU DO THIS A WHOLE SUMMER OR A WHOLE WINTER THROUGH, YOU CAN'T GO HUNTING, YOU CAN'T GO FISHING.

YOU CAN'T DO NOTHING BECAUSE YOU WORK ALL DAY ON IT.

SO I GUESS IT WAS A REAL ARTIST WHO MADE THIS.

AND HE WAS SET FREE BY HIS COMMUNITY ONLY TO DO THIS PIECE OF ARTWORK.

NARRATOR: HALF-MAN/HALF-ANIMAL FIGURES HAVE BEEN FOUND IN OTHER LOCATIONS BELONGING TO OUR EARLIEST ANCESTORS.

THEY SPEAK OF THE EXCHANGE OF IDEAS, AN EMERGING CULTURE, AND EVEN A GROWING SENSE OF SHARED SPIRITUALITY.

SOME MYTHICAL HYBRID FIGURES WOULD SOON MULTIPLY INTO WHOLE PANTHEONS OF GODS AS PEOPLE LEFT THEIR STONE-AGE CAVES AND SETTLED ON THE LAND.

MAN: ONCE WE GET TO THE AGE OF AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES THERE SEEMS TO BE A REALLY CLOSE CONNECTION BETWEEN ART AND DEATH FROM NEOLITHIC EUROPE OR FROM THE GREAT BURIAL PIT OF UR IN MESOPOTAMIA OR FROM ANCIENT EGYPT.

AND I THINK IT SUGGESTS THAT ART IS ABOUT HELPING TO PRESERVE THE ANCESTORS, TO PRESERVE, PERHAPS, EVEN THE SOUL AFTER DEATH.

NARRATOR: THE GREAT ARTIFICIAL MOUND IN SILBURY HILL, THE NEARBY CIRCLE OF STONEHENGE.

AS CIVILIZATIONS GREW IN SIZE AND SOPHISTICATION, THE LAND ITSELF BECAME A GIANT CANVAS ON WHICH PEOPLE BEGAN TO EXPRESS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE DIVINE WORLD BEYOND.

HILLS AND MOUNTAINS, BOTH REAL AND MANMADE, OFTEN BECAME SEEN AS HOLY PLACES, WHERE THE MATERIAL WORLD TOUCHES THE HEAVENS.

LONG BEFORE THE ACROPOLIS IN ATHENS BECAME A SYMBOL OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION, THIS WAS A SACRED MOUNTAIN WHOSE PURPOSE WAS RELIGION, NOT REASON.

WOMAN: THE ANCIENT ACROPOLIS IN ATHENS USED TO BE ONE OF THE RICHEST AND MOST COLORFUL, MOST INTENSE RELIGIOUS PLACES ANYWHERE, A REAL PHANTASMAGORIA OF RELIGIOUS IMAGES.

2,500 YEARS AGO, THIS PLACE WAS A FEAST FOR THE IMAGINATION.

IT USED TO BE SAID THAT THE DIVINE FIGURES THEMSELVES HAD ONCE WALKED IN THIS PLACE AND YOU COULD STILL SPOT WHERE THE GOD POSEIDON HAD JAMMED HIS TRIDENT INTO THE SOIL.

AND EVERYWHERE YOU LOOKED, THERE WERE RELIGIOUS OFFERINGS, ALTARS FOR SACRIFICE, AND TEMPLES.

[VEHICLE HORNS HONKING] NARRATOR: ONE OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR PLACES WHERE THE SYMBOLISM OF THE SACRED MOUNTAIN HAS BEEN TURNED INTO A WORK OF ART IS TO BE FOUND DEEP IN THE JUNGLE INTERIOR OF CAMBODIA.

ITS ANCIENT TEMPLE IS STILL IN USE TODAY.

TWICE A YEAR, LOCALS AND TOURISTS GATHER TO BEAR WITNESS TO A VERY SPECIAL EVENT.

THEY COME TO WITNESS A BRIEF MOMENT IN TIME, WHEN THE MOVEMENTS OF OUR SUN COMBINE WITH THE ARTISTIC ENDEAVORS OF HUMAN HANDS TO MAKE HEAVEN AND EARTH MEET.

THIS SPECTACULAR SIGHT IS THE SPRING EQUINOX AT THE TEMPLE OF ANGKOR WAT.

ON THE SAME DAY EVERY YEAR, THE MAIN TOWER ALIGNS PERFECTLY WITH THE DAWN SUN.

BUILT BY THE KHMER CIVILIZATION NEARLY A THOUSAND YEARS AGO IN THE 12th CENTURY, ANGKOR WAT WAS ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED AS A MONUMENT TO THE HINDU FAITH.

ITS 5 SOARING TOWERS REPRESENT THE MYTHICAL MOUNT MERU, CENTER OF THE HINDU COSMOS.

THERE ARE 3,000 OF THESE HINDU ANGELS--APSARAS.

AND ON ALMOST EVERY SURFACE, THERE ARE MORE ICONS AND IMAGES INTRICATELY CARVED INTO THE SANDSTONE.

AND WRAPPED AROUND THE COLONNADE IS AN EXCEPTIONAL BAS-RELIEF.

2/3 OF A MILE IN LENGTH, IT TELLS THE STORY OF THE GOD VISHNU... AND SHOWS PARALLELS BETWEEN HIM AND THE KHMER EMPEROR.

NARRATOR: BUILT TO PROCLAIM THE CERTAINTIES OF THE HINDU FAITH, THIS COLOSSAL ARTISTIC MONUMENT SOON BECAME A BUDDHIST SHRINE.

NARRATOR: BUDDHISM, LIKE HINDUISM, ORIGINATED IN INDIA.

AND HERE WE CAN FIND SOME OF THE VERY OLDEST BUDDHIST TEMPLES, PLACES NOT OF PUBLIC SPECTACLE LIKE ANGKOR WAT BUT OF SILENCE AND SOLITUDE, WHERE ART HAS BEEN CREATED TO HELP BRING ABOUT PERSONAL SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION.

CARVED INTO A WALL OF ROCK IN WESTERN INDIA ARE THE AJANTA CAVES, A LABYRINTH OF PRAYER HOLES AND MONASTERIES.

BEGUN AROUND 200 BCE, THE CAVES CONTAIN SOME OF THE EARLIEST IMAGES OF THE BUDDHA, BEFORE BUDDHISM HAD BECOME DISTINCT FROM OLDER HINDU TRADITIONS.

THE ARTIST SANGEETA ABHAY HAS LIVED CLOSE BY SINCE SHE WAS A CHILD AND STILL DRAWS ON THE INSPIRATION PROVIDED BY AJANTA'S SCULPTURES FOR HER OWN RELIGIOUS WORKS.

NARRATOR: AJANTA'S GREATEST TREASURES ARE HIDDEN INSIDE THE CAVES THEMSELVES.

THESE MURALS DEPICT THE MANY INCARNATIONS OF THE BUDDHA...

BUT THEY WERE NEVER INTENDED FOR PUBLIC DISPLAY.

SHROUDED IN DARKNESS, VISIBLE ONLY BY CANDLELIGHT, THEY ARE DELIBERATELY OBSCURED.

THE MESSAGE--TO APPRECIATE THE SPIRITUAL POWER OF THESE SACRED IMAGES, THE VIEWER MUST STEP OUT OF THE EVERYDAY WORLD.

NARRATOR: BASED ON THE JATAKA TALES, A COLLECTION OF STORIES THAT RECOUNT HOW THE BUDDHA REJECTED THE VANITIES OF THE WORLD, THE AJANTA MURALS PRESENT THE VIEWER WITH A DELIBERATE CHALLENGE.

LIKE THE TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA HIMSELF, THE MURALS HAVE NO OBVIOUS BEGINNING OR END AND ARE JUMBLED TOGETHER IN FRAGMENTARY FORM, FORCING THE VISITOR TO FIND THEIR OWN WAY THROUGH THE DARKNESS TO ENLIGHTENMENT.

NARRATOR: THE CAVES OF AJANTA REMAINED HOME TO BUDDHIST MONKS FOR SOME 800 YEARS.

BUT STARTING AROUND THE FIFTH CENTURY, THEY GRADUALLY FELL OUT OF USE AND WERE SWALLOWED UP BY THE SURROUNDING FOREST.

AT MORE OR LESS THE SAME TIME ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD, ANOTHER CIVILIZATION WAS HARNESSING THE POWER OF RELIGIOUS ART FOR A VERY DIFFERENT REASON.

HERE ON THE ADRIATIC COAST OF ITALY, THE EARLY CHRISTIAN FAITH WAS GRAPPLING WITH A PHILOSOPHICAL PUZZLE... ONE PERSONIFIED IN THE SEEMINGLY DUAL NATURE OF JESUS CHRIST.

IF JESUS WAS BORN A MAN, HOW COULD HE ALSO BE A GOD?

THE CHURCH OF SAN VITALE IS DECORATED IN ART THAT PROVIDES AN ANSWER.

BUILT AROUND 550 FROM THE REMAINS OF RUINED ROMAN TEMPLES, ITS VERY FABRIC IS A REMINDER OF THE CHRISTIAN CONQUEST OF PAGAN ROME.

AND THROUGHOUT THE CHURCH, THE POWER OF ART HAS BEEN USED TO ASSERT THE AWESOME POWER OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.

STORIES FROM THE BIBLE TELL HOW THE ONE TRUE GOD FIRST REVEALED HIMSELF TO HUMANKIND.

AND THEY ARE ILLUSTRATED IN GLITTERING GOLDEN MOSAICS, AN ART FORM PERFECTED BY THE EARLY CHURCH THAT HAD ITSELF ADOPTED THIS STYLE FROM PAGAN ROME.

BUT HERE IN SAN VITALE, ONE IMAGE DOMINATES THE CHURCH.

IT'S THE FIGURE OF JESUS HIMSELF.

AND THE WAY HIS IMAGE IS PORTRAYED HERE IS DESIGNED TO SETTLE THE CONTROVERSY OVER HIS DIVINITY ONCE AND FOR ALL.

IN PERFECT ALIGNMENT ARE 3 DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF JESUS.

IN THE APSE, THERE'S THE BEARDLESS JESUS, YOUNG-- THE SON OF GOD.

THE CENTER OF THE CEILING-- THERE'S JESUS AS THE SYMBOLIC LAMB OF GOD, THE JESUS WHO'S TO BE SACRIFICED ON BEHALF OF HUMANITY.

AND AT THE TOP OF THE ENTRANCE ARCH, THERE'S THE OLDER, BEARDED, ALL-POWERFUL JESUS WHO'S ABOUT AS INDISTINGUISHABLE AS YOU COULD GET FROM GOD THE FATHER.

SO THERE'S A LESSON HERE IN SEEING JESUS AND ALSO, PARTICULARLY IN THAT LAST IMAGE, A CLEAR STEER.

NARRATOR: WE'RE BEING TOLD IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS NEVER TO DOUBT THE DIVINITY OF JESUS FOR HE AND GOD ARE ONE AND THE SAME BEING.

BY THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES, THE CHRISTIAN FAITH HAD SPREAD ACROSS ASIA MINOR AND THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD.

THE NEW FAITH FILLED A VOID LEFT BY THE COLLAPSE OF THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE AND GROWING SKEPTICISM ABOUT THE OLDER PAGAN GODS.

JONES: ANCIENT RELIGIONS, THEY HAD LOTS OF GODS, EACH GOD HAVING PARTICULAR POWERS.

AND EDUCATED, SOPHISTICATED ANCIENT ROMANS, YOU KNOW, IN THEIR VILLAS DIDN'T REALLY BELIEVE IN THE GODS, BUT THAT ACTUALLY LEFT THEM SPIRITUALLY STARVED, AND CHRISTIANITY OFFERED SOMETHING THAT THE ANCIENT GODS JUST DIDN'T OFFER.

IT WASN'T JUST PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE, IT WAS REALLY ABOUT CHANGING YOUR LIFE.

IT WAS ABOUT BEING BORN AGAIN AND ON FINDING REDEMPTION AND HOPING TO GO TO HEAVEN AND FEAR OF HELL.

NARRATOR: CHRISTIANITY'S RELATIONSHIP TO ART ALSO BEGAN TO CHANGE.

JONES: IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE TODAY, PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR ART TO BE MORE POWERFUL OR "IF ONLY ART MATTERED."

IN THE MIDDLE AGES, ART MATTERED ABSOLUTELY.

ART COULD BE SOMETHING LITERALLY MAGICAL.

IF YOU WERE ILL, IF YOU HAD A BAD LEG, OR EVEN IF YOU HAD THE PLAGUE, YOU WOULD ASK GOD TO HELP YOU.

NARRATOR: YET ONCE A SINGLE ALL-POWERFUL CREATOR GOD REPLACED A PANTHEON OF MANY, THE POWER OF ART WAS OFTEN SEEN AS A CHALLENGE TO HIS AUTHORITY.

BOTH THE OLD TESTAMENT OF THE JEWS AND THE NEW TESTAMENT OF THE CHRISTIANS CONTAINED WARNINGS AGAINST THE MAKING OF GRAVEN IMAGES--IDOLS.

[MEN CHANTING IN ARABIC] NARRATOR: AND IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY, A NEW ABRAHAMIC FAITH EMERGED IN MECCA THAT TOOK THIS WARNING EVEN FURTHER, EXTENDING IT IN SOME INTERPRETATIONS TO THE REPRESENTATION OF ALL LIVING THINGS.

ISLAM TRANSFORMED THE MAP OF ASIA, AFRICA, AND EUROPE, REDRAWING NOT JUST PHYSICAL BOUNDARIES BUT THOSE BETWEEN ART AND RELIGION.

ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE TURKISH CITY OF ISTANBUL STANDS THE SANCAKLAR MOSQUE, A MODERN EXAMPLE OF HOW ISLAM ESTABLISHED A NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WORD AND THE IMAGE.

ONLY RECENTLY COMPLETED IN 2012, IT IS A VISIONARY BUILDING THAT CHALLENGES MANY OF THE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT WHAT A MOSQUE SHOULD BE.

MAN: THE IDEA OF THE MODERN MOSQUE IS SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN RESISTED.

MUSLIM COMMUNITIES IN THE WEST, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN THEY HIRE AN ARCHITECT, THE FIRST THING THAT THEY SAY: "WE WANT A DOME, AND WE WANT A MINARET."

AS A MATTER OF FACT, ACTUALLY, NEITHER OF THEM ARE NECESSARY ELEMENTS IN A MOSQUE.

A MOSQUE SHOULD JUST BE A SPACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN COME TOGETHER, PRAY IN PEACE.

NARRATOR: THE SANCAKLAR MOSQUE HARNESSES THE ARCHITECTURAL STYLE OF MODERNISM, A MOVEMENT USUALLY ASSOCIATED WITH A SECULAR AND NON-RELIGIOUS OUTLOOK, AND FUSES IT WITH MOTIFS FROM THE VERY FOUNDATIONS OF ISLAM.

BEARD: THIS INSIDE SPACE IS MEANT TO BE REMINISCENT OF THE CAVE OF HIRA, WHERE THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD FIRST RECEIVED THE REVELATION OF THE WORD OF GOD THAT BECAME THE KORAN.

AND, OF COURSE, IT ALSO EVOKES ONE OF THE CLASSIC STEREOTYPES THAT MANY PEOPLE NOW HAVE OF ISLAM, THAT IT'S A RELIGION THAT IS IN SOME WAY ARTLESS, THAT IT PROHIBITS NOT JUST THE IMAGE OF GOD AND THE PROPHET BUT THE IMAGES OF LIVING CREATURES WHICH ONLY THE CREATOR, GOD, IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO CREATE.

IN FACT, THE ONLY MANMADE IMAGE IS A WONDERFUL PIECE OF CALLIGRAPHY, WHICH IS A QUOTE FROM THE KORAN.

NARRATOR: IT READS SIMPLY, "REMEMBER YOUR LORD MUCH."

THE SANCTITY OF THE WORD GOES TO THE VERY HEART OF ISLAMIC ART.

RABBAT: IN ISLAM, MUHAMMAD IS NOT LIKE JESUS.

MUHAMMAD IS A MERE MORTAL, AND HE ACTUALLY IS CALLED THE MESSENGER.

WHAT IS THE MESSAGE?

IT'S THE KORAN.

IT'S THE TEXT.

IT'S THE LOGOS.

NOW, AS FAR AS THE MUSLIMS ARE CONCERNED, THERE WAS A DEBATE IN THE BEGINNING OF ISLAM-- ACTUALLY, IN THE NINTH CENTURY-- AND IT WAS A DEBATE BETWEEN TWO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT.

ONE WAS CONSERVATIVE, AND THE OTHER WAS VERY MUCH INFLUENCED BY THE GREEK PHILOSOPHY.

THE ONE THAT IS INFLUENCED BY THE GREEK PHILOSOPHY WAS SAYING, "THE KORAN IS CREATED."

THE ONE THAT IS CONSERVATIVE WAS SAYING, "THE KORAN IS THE WORD OF GOD," AND THAT LINE WON OVER.

AND FROM THAT POINT ON, YOU SEE THE KORAN SPLASHED IN BUILDINGS, I THINK, ALWAYS TO REMIND PEOPLE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE.

[CHANTING IN ARABIC] NARRATOR: ISLAM'S PRIVILEGING OF THE WORD OVER THE IMAGE HAS LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ART FORM WHICH MANY CONSIDER SYNONYMOUS WITH IT... CALLIGRAPHY.

AND AS ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION EVOLVED, SO, TOO, DID THE WRITTEN WORD, BECOMING EVER MORE ORNATE.

WOMAN: FROM THE VERY BIRTH OF ISLAM, THE FIRST VERSES REVEALED TO THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD WERE BY THE PEN.

THEREFORE IT SANCTIFIED THE USE OF THE PEN AT THE OUTSET OF ISLAM.

AND EVER SINCE THAT POINT, ARTISANS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO BEAUTIFY THE DIVINE WORD THROUGH THAT PEN.

MAN: OF COURSE, THE TEXT OF THE CALLIGRAPHY IS VERY IMPRESSIVE, BUT, FOR ME, WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT IS THE VISUAL OF THE CALLIGRAPHY-- THE GRAPHIC, THE BALANCE, AND THE RHYTHM OF THE CALLIGRAPHY.

ISLAMIC ARTISTS, THEY USUALLY DIDN'T PUT A SIGNATURE ON THEIR ARTWORK BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT "THE TALENT DOESN'T BELONG TO ME, BUT THE TALENT COMES TO ME FROM THE GODS."

FOR EXAMPLE, TO BE A GOOD CALLIGRAPHER, YOU HAD TO HAVE YEARS OF WORKING, EVEN ON ONE SINGLE LETTER.

NARRATOR: CALLIGRAPHY GAVE ISLAM AN EXQUISITE ART FORM THAT SET IT APART FROM RIVAL RELIGIONS.

BUT ATTEMPTS TO DIVIDE THE WORD OF GOD FROM THE IMAGE OF GOD WOULD NOT BE AS STRAIGHTFORWARD AS ISLAMIC SCHOLARS MIGHT ONCE HAVE IMAGINED.

AND BY PUSHING THEIR ART FROM TO ITS EXTREME, ISLAMIC CALLIGRAPHERS WOULD PRODUCE SOME OF THE MOST MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLES OF RELIGIOUS ART ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

THIS IS THE BLUE MOSQUE.

MAN: THE BLUE MOSQUE IS THE LAST, PERHAPS, OF THE GRAND, GRAND MOSQUES, AND IT'S THE MOST LAVISH.

AND THE MOSQUE WAS ACTUALLY COMPLETED IN 1616 BY AHMED I, THE OTTOMAN EMPEROR.

AND THIS WAS A TIME, ACTUALLY, WHEN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE WAS SUFFERING VERY SERIOUS DEFEATS, BOTH ON ITS WESTERN FRONTS AND ITS EASTERN FRONT AGAINST IRAN.

SO AHMED I MOST LIKELY BUILT THIS EXCEEDINGLY LAVISH MOSQUE IN ORDER TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM THE FACT THAT THINGS WERE GOING REALLY BADLY AND ALSO TO REINFORCE THE IDEA THAT THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE WAS STILL GRAND.

NARRATOR: THIS ATTEMPT TO CONVINCE THE OTTOMAN FAITHFUL OF THEIR EMPIRE'S GRANDEUR CONTINUES INSIDE THE BUILDING ITSELF.

INTERWOVEN WITH THE LAVISH TILING AND BEAUTIFUL STAINED GLASS ARE SOME OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY EXAMPLES OF MONUMENTAL CALLIGRAPHY IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD.

IT'S AS IF A GREAT LIBRARY OF ISLAMIC SCRIPT HAS BEEN PAINTED OVER THE WALLS TO GUIDE THE THOUGHTS OF THE FAITHFUL AND HELP INTERPRET EVERYTHING THEY SEE.

[ANNOUNCEMENTS OVER P.A.

IN ARABIC] NARRATOR: THE BLUE MOSQUE GRAPHICALLY ILLUSTRATES THE DIFFICULTY OF SEPARATING THE WORD FROM THE IMAGE.

PLACED HIGH ABOVE THE PRAYER HALL, THE SCRIPT BECOMES ALMOST ILLEGIBLE.

WHEN IT WAS FIRST PAINTED, MANY OF THE FAITHFUL WOULD HAVE BEEN ILLITERATE.

AND EVEN FOR THOSE WHO COULD READ, THE CLARITY OF THE MESSAGE IS SOMETIMES OBSCURED BY THE EXTREME ORNAMENTATION OF THE TEXT.

BEARD: HERE WE'RE SEEING GOD REPRESENTED IN VISUAL FORM BUT NOT AS HUMAN.

HERE GOD IS DISPLAYED AS HIS WORD IN THE KORAN.

NOW, ISLAM IS BY NO MEANS THE ONLY RELIGION TO USE WRITING AS A WAY TO NEGOTIATE THE PROBLEM OF HOW YOU REPRESENT THE DIVINE.

THE CHRISTIAN GOSPELS, FOR EXAMPLE, CAN CLAIM THAT GOD IS THE WORD, BUT IN ISLAM MORE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE, WE SEE THE IMAGE BECOMING THE WORD AND THE WORD BECOMING THE IMAGE.

RABBAT: THE WRITING IS EXACTLY THE EQUIVALENT OF THE IMAGE OF CHRIST.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW AS A MUSLIM AS YOU COME INTO A MOSQUE IS THAT THIS IS THE KORAN.

YOU REALLY DON'T NEED TO READ WHAT IS THERE IN ORDER TO REMEMBER THAT "I'M NOW IN THE PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE."

THAT'S HIS WORDS THAT ARE THERE.

NARRATOR: BUT IT WASN'T JUST IN ISLAM WHERE THE WORD ITSELF COULD BECOME AN IMAGE.

THIS IS THE KENNICOTT HEBREW BIBLE.

IT WAS CREATED IN 1476 IN THE KINGDOM OF CASTILE BY A JEWISH SCRIBE AT A TIME WHEN SPAIN WAS STILL HOME TO JEWS AND MUSLIM MINORITIES.

AND WHAT MAKES THIS MANUSCRIPT SO FASCINATING IS THAT A BOOK DENSE WITH WARNINGS ABOUT IDOLS AND IMAGES NEVERTHELESS FLOUTS THOSE VERY RULES ON ALMOST EVERY PAGE.

MAN: YOU WILL FIND DEPICTION OF HUMAN BEINGS, OF ANIMALS, OF IMAGINARY MONSTERS.

HE WAS VERY, VERY INNOVATIVE.

HE USED ANYTHING HE COULD LAY HIS HANDS ON--PLAYING CARDS.

SOME OF THE SOURCES, FOR EXAMPLE, THE BIRDS THAT HE DRAWS SO BEAUTIFULLY, HAVE BEEN FOUND, AND THEY'RE DRAWINGS THAT WERE AVAILABLE AT THE TIME.

NARRATOR: THE BIBLE IS A TESTAMENT TO A BRIEF BUT EXTRAORDINARY MOMENT IN SPANISH HISTORY, WHEN MUSLIM, CHRISTIAN, AND JEWISH TRADITIONS CAME TOGETHER IN A RICH AND FERTILE WAY.

MERCHÁN-HAMANN: THESE CANONS OF WHAT CAN AND WHAT CAN'T BE DONE DON'T STAY CONSTANT OVER TIME.

THEY CHANGE.

AND SO AT THIS SPECIFIC TIME, IN THE LATE 15th CENTURY, WE CAN CLEARLY SEE CERTAIN THINGS THAT WOULD HAVE SEEMED VERY PROFANE, AND YET THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THIS, CLEARLY.

NARRATOR: THE LAST MOORISH KINGDOM IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA, GRANADA, SURRENDERED TO CATHOLIC SPAIN IN 1492.

THAT SAME YEAR, COLUMBUS VOYAGED TO THE NEW WORLD.

SPAIN'S BATTLE-HARDENED SOLDIERS WOULD SOON FOLLOW IN SEARCH OF GOLD, GLORY, AND GOD.

IN MEXICO, THEY FOUND ALL THREE.

SPAIN'S CONQUEST IN THE AMERICAS ESTABLISH IT AS THE GREATEST EMPIRE IN THE WORLD WITH TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE UNDER ITS SWAY.

WITH IT CAME A RENEWED SENSE OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH'S POWER AND OF GOD'S DIVINE PURPOSE AND MISSION FOR THE FAITHFUL.

IT'S A VISION CAPTURED IN THE VISCERAL BAROQUE ART OF THE COUNTERREFORMATION.

MASTERPIECES BY EL GRECO... CARAVAGGIO... AND VELÁZQUEZ OWE MUCH OF THEIR INSPIRATION TO THIS RENEWED SENSE OF CATHOLIC POWER AND SPIRITUALITY, SUPPORTED BY THE WEIGHT OF MILLIONS OF NEW CONVERTS IN THE NEW WORLD.

MAN: THEY WERE THE LEADING EMPIRE IN THE WHOLE WORLD, SO, OF COURSE, THEY NEEDED NOT ONLY THE GREED AS SOME MOTIVATION BUT THEY NEEDED AN IDEOLOGICAL MOTIVE.

THAT MOTIVE WAS GIVEN BY RELIGIOSITY.

EVANGELIZATION WAS KEY TO SAVE THE SOULS AND TO REDEEM THE INDIANS.

[MAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY] NARRATOR: THE CONQUISTADORS ATTEMPTED TO ERADICATE ALMOST ALL TRACE OF INDIGENOUS MEXICAN CULTURE AND RELIGION.

[PRIEST SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY] NARRATOR: BUT SOME GLIMMER OF ITS PAST ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE IMPULSES REMAINED.

ONE OF THE MOST WELL-KNOWN IS THE DAY OF THE DEAD.

ONCE AN AZTEC FEAST DAY, CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES ATTEMPTED TO MUTE ITS POTENTIALLY SUBVERSIVE POWER BY INCORPORATING IT INTO ALL SAINTS' DAY.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER] AS PART OF THE CELEBRATIONS, LOCAL PEOPLE CREATE SHRINES TO THEIR DEPARTED LOVED ONES THAT ARE EXTRAORDINARY EXAMPLES OF RELIGIOUS FOLK ART.

THE MEXICANS HAD PROVED TO BE ESPECIALLY FERVENT CONVERTS, PERHAPS BECAUSE MANY HAD BEEN SUBJECT PEOPLES OF THE AZTECS AND SAW AN OPPORTUNITY TO BREAK FREE.

BUT THEY ALSO SHARED AN UNEXPECTED SPIRITUAL AFFINITY WITH THEIR COLONIZERS THAT CAN BE SEEN IN THEIR ART.

HENRIQUEZ: THEY FOUND A PEOPLE WITH A VERY SOPHISTICATED THEOLOGY IN THEIR SPIRITUAL APPROACH TO THE UNIVERSE.

SO FOR BOTH GODS AND HUMANS IN ORDER TO SUSTAIN THE UNIVERSE, IF THEY NEEDED TO GIVE BLOOD, THEY WOULD GLADLY OFFER THE BLOOD.

[MASS CONTINUES, INDISTINCT] NARRATOR: FOR BOTH RELIGIONS, THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD REDEEMED AND RENEWED THE WORLD.

[CHOIR SINGING] BUT WHERE THE AZTEC GODS DEMANDED THE BLOOD OF THE PEOPLE, THE CHRISTIAN GOD GAVE HIS BLOOD FOR THEM.

AND INTIMATELY CONNECTED TO THIS CYCLE OF RENEWAL WAS ANOTHER CHRISTIAN FIGURE WHO CAME TO SYMBOLIZE FERTILITY.

HENRIQUEZ: SO THE STRATEGY ADOPTED WAS TO SUBSTITUTE CATHOLIC IMAGES, AND THEY FOUND THAT THE BEST IMAGE WAS THE VIRGIN MARY BECAUSE FERTILITY WAS AT THE CORE OF THIS RELIGIOSITY.

AND WHAT WOULD REPRESENT FERTILITY IN CHRISTIANITY?

THE VIRGIN MARY.

NARRATOR: THE CULT OF MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS, BECAME NO LESS FERVENT BACK IN SPAIN, ESPECIALLY AS THE COUNTERREFORMATION, THE FIGHT BACK AGAINST PROTESTANTISM, GATHERED FORCE IN THE 1600s.

WOMAN: DIOS TE SALVE, MARIA.

LLENA ERES DE GRACIA: EL SEÑOR ES CONTIGO... NARRATOR: ONE OF THE GREAT CENTERS OF BAROQUE ARTISTIC EXPRESSION WAS AND STILL IS SEVILLE, IN SOUTHERN SPAIN.

AND 17th-CENTURY SEVILLE ALSO PRODUCED ANOTHER KIND OF IMAGE, AN IDOL WHOSE POWER OVER THE FAITHFUL REMAINS CONTROVERSIAL.

RESIDING IN THE CHURCH OF THE MACARENA IS AN ICON OF THE VIRGIN MARY.

SHE'S BEEN HERE FOR OVER 300 YEARS LAMENTING THE DEATH OF HER SON JESUS.

WITH TEARS MADE OF GLASS, REAL HUMAN HAIR, AND FLESH FASHIONED IN WOOD BECAUSE OF ITS ORGANIC AND LIFELIKE QUALITIES, IN MANY WAYS LA MACARENA IS TREATED LIKE A HUMAN BEING.

ONLY NUNS ARE PERMITTED TO REMOVE HER CLOTHES AND DRESS HER.

SHE COMES TO LIFE ON JUST ONE NIGHT A YEAR.

HOLY WEEK IN SEVILLE HAS CHANGED LITTLE OVER THE CENTURIES.

BUILDING TOWARDS EASTER SUNDAY, LOCALS FILL THE STREETS, GIVING THANKS TO JESUS AND PRAYING FOR FORGIVENESS OF THEIR SINS.

THE CLIMAX BEGINS SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT ON GOOD FRIDAY, WHEN DEVOTEES GATHER AT THE CHURCH OF THE MACARENA.

[DOORS CREAKING] HOODED PENITENTS BEGIN TO MARCH.

THE HOLY CROSS IS PRESENTED TO THE CROWD.

[BEATING DRUM] NARRATOR: THE ATMOSPHERE IS CHARGED WITH EMOTION.

AND NOW THEY WAIT, LONGING FOR THE MOMENT OF GRACE, WHEN THE VIRGIN APPEARS AT THE THRESHOLD AND A TRANSFORMATION IS AT HAND.

[MAN SHOUTS INDISTINCTLY] [TAP] [INDISTINCT SHOUTING] NARRATOR: CARRIED ON A THRONE, SHE BEGINS HER JOURNEY INTO THE NIGHT.

AND AS SHE MOVES, THE STATUE TAKES ON A LIFE OF ITS OWN.

THE REACTION OF THE FAITHFUL IS A SPECTACLE TO BEHOLD.

NARRATOR: LA MACARENA IS A VIVID REALIZATION OF A TRADITION THAT DATES BACK TO THE HIGH RENAISSANCE, WHEN ARTISTS BEGAN TO HARNESS THE POWER OF RELIGIOUS IMAGES IN MORE NATURALISTIC AND EARTHY WAYS TO MAKE THEM FEEL PRESENT IN THE HERE AND NOW.

YET FOR SOME, THIS MASS DEVOTION TO A STATUE RAISES UNCOMFORTABLE QUESTIONS.

IS THIS ART IN SERVICE OF THE DIVINE OR HAS THE ART ITSELF BECOME HOLY?

BEARD: UNDERNEATH ALL THIS, THERE'S A PROBLEM, WHICH OFTEN REMAINS UNSPOKEN.

THE BIG QUESTION IS, WHAT ARE THE WORSHIPERS WORSHIPING?

IS IT THE IDEA OF THE VIRGIN MARY WHO SOMEHOW IS OUT THERE BEYOND THE IMAGE, OR ARE THEY WORSHIPING THE STATUE ITSELF?

THAT'S TO SAY, THIS IS THE IDOLATRY QUESTION, WHICH ALMOST ALL RELIGIONS HAVE FACED.

[CHEERING] NARRATOR: HERE IN SEVILLE, THE CHURCH AUTHORITIES HAVE FOR CENTURIES BEEN ACUTELY AWARE OF THE PERILS OF IDOLATRY.

THEY HAVE LONG PREACHED RESTRAINT, CONDEMNING LAVISH EXPENSE, EVER VIGILANT OF THE LINE BETWEEN CHRISTIAN FAITH AND THE VENERATION OF IDOLS.

INDIA HAS OFTEN BEEN CALLED THE HOME OF IDOLATRY.

THE SUBCONTINENT HAS A LONG HISTORY OF MAKING THE DIVINE MANIFEST IN HUMAN FORM WITH NO APPARENT CONFLICT OR TENSION.

IN A TRADITION THAT DATES BACK CENTURIES, HINDU ARTISTS SPEND THEIR LIVES CREATING EFFIGIES IN STRAW AND MUD... AN ENDLESS PANTHEON OF GODS TO BE WORSHIPED DURING AN ENDLESS CYCLE OF FESTIVALS.

AND THIS USE OF ART PERMEATES EVERYDAY LIFE TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT HOUSES, STREETS, AND EVEN TAXIS AND TRUCKS ARE DECORATED IN RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS AND IMAGES.

NARRATOR: BUT BEGINNING IN THE 12th CENTURY, A NEW TRADITION ARRIVED IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT AND WAS VIOLENTLY OPPOSED TO WHAT IT SAW AS IDOLATRY.

THIS WAS ITS FIRST TEMPLE IN DELHI.

BEGUN IN 1192, ITS CENTRAL BRICK TOWER IS 239 FEET TALL, THE TALLEST EXAMPLE OF ITS KIND ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

ADORNING THIS SPRAWLING COMPLEX ARE THOUSANDS OF IMAGES OF HINDU GODS AND ANGELS.

BUT WHY HAVE SO MANY OF THESE BRICKS BEEN DEFACED OR ERECTED UPSIDE-DOWN?

THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE.

THIS IS A MOSQUE.

THE QUWWAT-UL-ISLAM, OR MIGHT OF ISLAM, MOSQUE WAS CONSTRUCTED FROM THE DEMOLISHED REMAINS OF 27 HINDU AND JAIN TEMPLES BY AN INVADING MUSLIM ARMY, WHICH CONQUERED NORTHERN INDIA IN THE 12th CENTURY.

IT'S JUST ONE OF COUNTLESS EXAMPLES OF ICONOCLASM FROM CIVILIZATIONS ALL OVER THE WORLD... FROM IMAGES OF THE BUDDHA THAT HAVE BEEN SMASHED IN THE TEMPLE COMPLEX OF ANGKOR WAT TO THE CONQUISTADORS DESTROYING THE IDOLATROUS IMAGES OF WHAT THEY SAW AS DEVIL-WORSHIPING AZTECS, FOR AS LONG AS THERE HAVE BEEN IDOLS, THERE HAVE BEEN ICONOCLASTS.

JASANOFF: WHAT ALL OF THESE MOVEMENTS WITHIN RELIGIONS HAVE IN COMMON IS THAT THEY COME ALONG, SAYING, "WE HAVE A PURER FORM OF FAITH THAN THE ONE THAT IS CURRENTLY BEING PRACTICED."

AND IF YOUR FUNDAMENTAL GOAL IS PURITY, THEN ONE OF THE CENTRAL THINGS YOU MIGHT TRY TO DO WOULD BE TO ELIMINATE OPULENT, AESTHETIC, OR POTENTIALLY SINFUL REPRESENTATIONS OF THINGS TO ACT AS INTERMEDIARIES, BECAUSE THEN MAYBE YOU'RE JUST WORSHIPING THE OBJECT.

YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY WORSHIPING THE DIVINE.

AND SO IT MAKES SENSE THAT PROTESTANTS OF THE REFORMATION WENT INTO THE MONASTERIES AND STRIPPED EVERYTHING OUT, SAYING, "IT'S TIME TO GET RID OF THESE IMAGES."

NARRATOR: JUST A DECADE AFTER LA MACARENA WAS FIRST PARADED IN CATHOLIC SPAIN, PURITAN ENGLAND LAUNCHED A MAJOR ATTACK ON WHAT IT REGARDED AS PAPIST IDOLATRY.

[BELL RINGING] A SITE OF PILGRIMAGE SINCE THE SEVENTH CENTURY, ELY CATHEDRAL IS A MASTERPIECE OF LATE MEDIEVAL GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE.

BUT IN THE 16th AND 17th CENTURIES, THE TRANQUILITY OF THIS BEAUTIFUL SITE WAS SHATTERED WHEN PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS FOUGHT FOR THE SUPREMACY OF THEIR DIFFERENT CREEDS AND CONTROL OF ENGLAND.

WITH ITS CAVERNOUS NAVE, ORNATE CARVINGS, AND THE EXTRAORDINARY OCTAGONAL LANTERN THAT FORMS A WOODEN TOP TO THE BUILDING'S STEEPLE, THE CATHEDRAL WAS RESTORED BY THE VICTORIANS.

BUT ON CLOSER INSPECTION, THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY PURITAN AND OTHER ICONOCLASTS IS ALL AROUND.

MOTIVATED BY A DESIRE TO RID ELY OF IDOLATROUS CATHOLIC SUPERSTITION IN THE NAME OF TRUE RELIGION AND THE WORD OF GOD, THEIR VANDALISM HAS HAD SURPRISING ARTISTIC CONSEQUENCES.

BEARD: ICONOCLASM IS SOMETHING WE OFTEN DEPLORE.

BUT THERE IS ANOTHER WAY OF LOOKING AT IT.

THOSE FIGURES MINUS HEADS, MINUS HANDS HAVE NOT BEEN MADE INVISIBLE.

IT'S ALMOST AS IF THEY'VE BEEN TURNED INTO A DIFFERENT SORT OF IMAGE IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, AN ARTFUL NARRATIVE OF RELIGIOUS CONFLICT.

NARRATOR: THE ONCE CROWDED WALLS AND STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS OF ELY HAVE BEEN STRIPPED OF ALL ORNAMENTATION, CREATING AN AESTHETIC WHICH FAVORS PURITY, SIMPLICITY, AND AUSTERITY.

IF THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN ICONOCLASM AND IDOLATRY IS AS OLD AS RELIGION ITSELF, TODAY, ESPECIALLY IN THE WEST, ART HAS FOUND NEW WAYS TO ENGAGE WITH OUR SPIRITUAL IMPULSES, EVEN WHEN THE AUDIENCE IS OFTEN SECULAR.

I THINK THAT ONE OF THE WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT ART IS THAT IT CAN BE DETACHED FROM ITS CONTEXT AND APPRECIATED AS AN AESTHETIC OBJECT.

I THINK WE ARE DOING SOMETHING THAT ADDS VALUE TO IT.

WE ALSO NEED TO BE SENSITIVE, THOUGH, THAT WE'RE MAYBE SUBTRACTING ANOTHER MEANING THAT IT MIGHT HAVE HAD TO THE ORIGINAL VIEWERS, AND YET THERE'S ROOM, TOO, TO BRING THESE THINGS TOGETHER, AND I THINK THAT THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT YOU CAN SEE HAPPENING IN SOME OF THE INSTALLATIONS WHERE PEOPLE ARE REUSING CHURCHES OR SACRED SPACES FOR NEW FORMS OF ART.

NARRATOR: ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL IN LONDON, ENGLAND, IS ONE OF THESE SPACES.

AND THE 350-YEAR-OLD CATHEDRAL HAS OPENED ITS DOORS TO EMBRACE A NEW FORM OF SPIRITUALLY-INSPIRED ART.

KIRA PEROV: YOU FEEL THE THICK PATINA OF MEMORY THAT HAS BEEN BUILT UP IN THIS PLACE, AND EVERYBODY FEELS IT.

YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S WHY PEOPLE LOVE GOING TO THESE SPACES.

NARRATOR: THIS INSTALLATION TITLED "THE MARTYRS" FIRST WENT ON DISPLAY IN 2014 TO CRITICAL ACCLAIM.

ITS CREATORS ARE HUSBAND AND WIFE, BILL VIOLA AND KIRA PEROV, PIONEERS OF VIDEO ART.

CALLED BY SOME THE REMBRANDTS OF THE VIDEO AGE, THEIR WORK ENCOMPASSES A KIND OF SPIRITUALITY THAT EMPHASIZES TOGETHERNESS AND SHARED EXPERIENCE.

PEROV: TO PLACE A WORK IS REALLY A GREAT HONOR, AND TO SHARE THAT KIND OF SPACE IS RECIPROCAL.

IT REALLY IS.

THE PIECE GAINS IN MEANING, AND THE SPACE GAINS AS WELL.

NARRATOR: THE RESPONSE TO "MARTYRS" WAS SO GREAT THAT IN 2016, THE VIOLAS FOLLOWED IT UP WITH A SECOND WORK...

THIS TIME, A TRIPTYCH CALLED "MARY."

WHERE OTHER ART FORMS CAPTURE ONLY THE STATIC IMAGE FROZEN IN LINEAR TIME, THE VIOLAS' WORK FRAGMENTS, EXTENDS, AND COLLAGES IMAGES IN ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT TIMELINES.

THE EFFECT BEARS PARALLELS WITH THE EARLY SPIRITUAL ART OF THE BUDDHIST CAVES OF AJANTA, WHOSE CONFUSION OF IMAGES FORCED SPIRITUAL SEEKERS TO FIND THEIR OWN ENLIGHTENMENT.

PEROV: MOST PEOPLE, I WOULD SAY, THAT COME TO THE CATHEDRAL ARE NOT CHRISTIANS OR OF ANY FAITH, SO THE WORKS ARE ACTUALLY MADE FOR PERSONAL CONTEMPLATION.

BILL HAS SAID THAT "ART, FOR ME, IS THE PROCESS OF WAKING UP THE SOUL."

AND SO THIS IS THE REASON WHY THESE PIECES ARE HERE.

JONES: BILL AND KIRA VIOLA'S VIDEO ALTAR PIECE, IF YOU LIKE, ACTUALLY REINVENTS RELIGIOUS ART FOR OUR AGE.

IT'S EXTREMELY RESONANT AND POWERFUL.

IT REFLECTS A DESIRE FOR ART TO WORK ON A SPIRITUAL LEVEL AND TO DEAL WITH DEATH AND OUR FEAR OF WHAT MIGHT BE AFTER DEATH, OR, YOU KNOW, IT'S AN ART WHICH IS ABOUT SERIOUS THINGS ON EARTH.

NARRATOR: ANOTHER ARTIST REINTERPRETING A TRADITIONALLY RELIGIOUS ART FORM IS JULIEN BRETON, KNOWN AS KALAAM.

HIS PIONEERING WORK FUSES PHOTOGRAPHY WITH GRAFFITI AND CALLIGRAPHY, TRANSFORMING EVERYDAY SPACES INTO SACRED PLACES THROUGH A UNIQUE, EPHEMERAL, AND THOROUGHLY MODERN ISLAMIC FUSION OF WORD AND IMAGE.

JONES: WE PASSIONATELY WANT TO REDISCOVER THE SPIRITUAL IN ART.

WE PASSIONATELY WANT TO DISCOVER THAT KIND OF POWER AND PURPOSE THAT RELIGIOUS ART HAS.

WHETHER IT'S REINVENTING CHRISTIAN ART IN CATHEDRALS OR WHETHER IT'S REINVENTING ISLAMIC ART, IT'S ABOUT WANTING TO RESACRALIZE ART, WANTING TO REDISCOVER THAT WONDERFUL, ALMOST MAGICAL, CHARISMATIC PURPOSE THAT RELIGIOUS ART HAS.

NARRATOR: FOR MUCH OF HISTORY, ART HAS BEEN RELIGIOUS ART.

FOR SOME, THE CREATIVE IMPULSE HAS BEEN THE VERY EXPRESSION OF DIVINITY.

FOR OTHERS, A CHALLENGE TO GOD'S AUTHORITY.

FOR THOSE THAT BELIEVE, RELIGIOUS ART HAS ALWAYS BEEN TRANSFORMATIVE...

YET FOR EVERYONE, ART RETAINS A PRIMAL SPIRITUAL FEELING, A WAY TO EXPRESS THE MYSTERIOUS, AND IT SPEAKS TO OUR EARLIEST HUMAN DRIVE TO TOUCH AND DEFINE A WORLD BEYOND OUR OWN.

Civilizations is available on DVD.

To order visit shop.pbs.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS Also available for download on iTunes.