Christian Motives in EGL Prints

If there is anything I feel quite confident talking about, it´s prints with Christian motives. Not because of my personal beliefs, I don´t consider myself a believer, but because I studied art and graphics for three long years now, and prints combine them. If you mix that with my love for art and cultural history, you can see where this is going to. As always, sorry for my grammar, I am not a native speaker.

Christian motives have been present in fashion for the bigger part of last few centuries, from the crucifix to the cute outfits of the pope and his gang, but they were considered formal and not a lot of people surrounded themselves with them in the peak of their youth and health. The first usage of crosses in popular contraculturure is often credited to Madonna in the eighties, and while I can´t find any earlier date, they were worn by neo-romantics and other subcultures for at least a decade prior, so we can´t attribute that to just one person.

Maria Manrique de Lara (16th century), Madonna (1980s)

It migh appear that crosses are going to be used mainly in gothic lolita but with the lack of tact and respect, crosses can be used in any arrangement, context and color combination. It´s often used in nurse and hospital themed pieces, which may be cute for a lot of people. I am not one of them, doctors terrify me.
Thanks to association with hospitals, they are often seen in guro lolita too. 

Horror Candy Shop JSK

Strawberry Emergency Room JSK

Happy Easter ~Easter Bunny's Spring Garden~ Cross JSK

Yolanda Bunny Herbology JSK

They have been used in lolita since the early days, with the oldest piece I was able to track dating back to 1990. It´s Jane Marples´ Cross Applique Skirt. From 1990 to 1998, Jane Marple is the only lolita brand to release any piece with cross motive until the year 1999, when Metamorphose came with two skirts and one dress, and Moi-même-Moitié was founded. Brands´ founder, Mana-sama, stated that his vision is to evoke the "ancient gothic" feeling.
Gothic architecture started with sacral buildings, so it´s not surprising it contains many religious artifacts. I don´t see anything wrong in taking these symbols out of their context as fashion statements, but it´s interesting. Cross pendants were first used as a mockery and provocation, but now nobody really thinks about them in such a way. I own a few accessories with crosses and I rarely think about their meaning and the fact they caused the deaths of millions of people.

One of my favorites from old school lolita is this JSK from Meta.

Cross Print JSK

Few seasons ago, art prints were having their moments. From rococo to medieval icons, you could find everything. Expert in this field was L'Esprit de la Noblesse. With them being Russian indie brand I am not sure how they function in the new situation, but I encourage you to look at their Instagram. 

Crivelli JSK

Name of this piece came from authors of the original painting, Crivelli brothers. You can indentify baby Jesus with other characters, just as the fact that print came from polyptych. 
A lot of their early prints were gothic or romanesque, but they have been trying new things lately. Still, one of their latest piece is filled with angels and stars. I like it quite a lot.

Paintings and illuminations are leading us to their original homes. Nothing can melt my icy heart as much as beautiful architecture, with gothic being my favorite. It´s almost surprising how often gothic architecture is used in lolita. Next to gingerbread houses, this must be most popular entry in the architectural tag of Lolibrary. 
Moitie is probably the best known case. 

Cathedral Print

Neo-Gothic Arch Print OP

Just look at all the pinnacles, lancet archs and other things I can´t even name in English. Also, the very interesting message on the border of the skirt. I think I am liking those pieces more and more every minute. 

My theory why is gothic architecture so popular in lolita is very simple - it´s beautiful and interesting. Renessaince might be beautiful, but if you simplify it, all you get is a cube. 
I have a harder time sorting it into religious imagery, but while it turned to people a little bit, I would not consider it a secular style. Prague can be a great example. While it´s full of gothic houses that were used for living (Stone Bell House, for example), the most iconic are the sacred ones. They had bigger budgets and more time to be finished, which is important for style based on detail and defying gravity. Just St. Vitus Cathedral took almost 600 years to be completed, which shows us the dedication of many generations not just to religion, but also to aesthetics. 
That´s the end of my gothic rant. I am sorry.
Boths of those prints are considered classics today, but you can enjoy the house of God in modern versions, too. 

Duomo di Milano

My favorite parts of churches are vitrages, which were made partly so even the illiterate population could imagine what is all the Biblical fuzz about. Happily, it can be applicated everywhere, so for example Art Nouveau often used it for windows and doors. My school has this mosaic of color on doors, it´s sweet. 

Silk Stained Glass Skirt

Example from Lady Sloth.

Byzantium Stained Glass Skirt

And the same theme from Souffle Song.

I will have to end this article here, because I don´t want to bore you with smaller things. I wouldn´t mind wearing crosses and smaller motives, such as doves and chiro, but I don´t want to to have Jesus on my chest or skirt. For me, being raised in an atheistic country, those things have historical value, but if I don´t go deeper to think about all the brutal events surrounding this religion, from being murdered to murdering, I just don´t feel anything about wearing those things. 
Other people, from more caring regions, might think or feel otherwise, and that´s cool. You can write you thoughts on this theme, I look forward to reading it.
I hope I did not come off as anti-christian or anything. 

Have a nice day :D.