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The new Holy Smoke episode is a significant departure from our usual formula. It\u2019s a discussion about the profound and neglected meaning of Christian art. Professor Ben Quash of King\u2019s College London is interviewed not by me but by Carmel Thompson \u2013 my sister, who has appeared twice on Holy Smoke to talk about her battle with ovarian cancer but is determined not to be defined by her illness.
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\n\n\nThis is a truly engrossing episode inspired by Carmel\u2019s conviction that art depicting Christian subjects \u2013 and that includes most of the great art produced in the West up to and including the Renaissance \u2013 is too often examined from a purely aesthetic point of view.
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\nObviously you\u2019ll get far more out of this discussion if you can see what Carmel and Ben are talking about with such infectious enthusiasm, so here are the artworks chosen by Ben.