A useful book to know about:
Using Art In RE: Using RE In Art, by Vivien Northcote.
An idea of the approach adopted in this book can best be conveyed by some extracts from the author's article in the 'Face to Faith' column of The Guardian for August the 19th.
"Why do so many people doubt the truth of Christianity? Could it be because their ideas are circumscribed not by the words of the Bible but by the images they see? In this millennium year, the image of Christ is attracting more than usual attention. However, we do not know what Christ looked like, because the gospels are silent on the subject.
It is not just that the image of Christ itself, as portrayed by artists down the centuries, is a fiction, but, more importantly, the actions that are portrayed are also an invention of the artist to try and give visual effect to an idea. This leads to the showing of the resurrection, for example, as Jesus Christ lifting off into the air from his tomb. . . . Certainly, for the modern child, the explanation given by the artists is misleading. When asked to make an Easter card, a 20th-century child, clearly having seen some artistic interpretations, drew Christ ascending to heaven strapped to a booster rocket.
The question then arises whether children should be shown these images before they are old enough to consider the metaphysical aspects of Christian doctrine. The problem is that they will see them sometimes in their religious education textbooks, and sometimes on the walls of galleries because it is now part of the national curriculum to introduce children to art from the earliest ages. To query the validity of the images is also to call into question the faith of many adults, for whom the image has become definitive. . . . . . . . . . It is vital, however, that children, in particular, have these images de-mythologised and placed in their proper contexts so that further misunderstandings do not occur.
The question of whether or not there should be Christian images is an age-old controversy. . . . . What can be done about this? With children, information and education are important. If the images are explained to the children and put into context, then they can become useful teaching tools, leading to creative discussion of the great Christian doctrines. What must not be allowed to continue is the indiscriminate use of images without explanation, so that children make assumptions, and possibly form opinions, based on the images, which later inhibit them from developing a mature faith.
The solution is for religious education teachers to learn something of art history, and for art teachers to learn something of religious education, so that when these images are shown to children their teachers are in a position to explain them in both their art-historical and religious contexts. The cry will go up that teachers have no time to acquire such extra knowledge. But this knowledge must be obtained and used in order to clear up the current confusion. Then Christianity can be explained in its truth, and not its imagined truth, so that everyone can have an accurate portrayal of the Christian faith.