When we think of Christian art rooted in Western culture, what comes to mind? Perhaps mystical Byzantine icons, Michelangelo’s majestic “Creation of Adam” on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in Rome or Rembrandt’s compassionate “Return of the Prodigal Son.”

What about art outside the mainstream? A new book, Variations in Christian Art (Bloomsbury), spotlights an intriguing combination of four lesser-known Christian artistic traditions: Mennonites, Quakers, Latter-day Saints and Swedenborgians.

As historic peace churches, Mennonites and Quakers are natural counterparts. The other two form a stark contrast: Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, are a frequent subject of popular interest. As for Swedenborgians, many readers might never have heard of them.

Editor Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, who taught religious art and cultural history at Georgetown University, looks “beyond the elite class” to find “a variety of theological perspectives and liturgical practices” that “incorporate current concerns for race, ethnicity and gender.”

Each of the book’s four sections has a different author: Mennonites by Rachel Epp Buller, professor of visual arts and design at Bethel College; Latter-day Saints (Mormons) by Heather Belnap; Quakers by Rowena Loverance; Swedenborgians by the editor.

Buller discusses five historical and cultural periods of Mennonite art, noting the trends that have influenced Mennonite artists.

She starts with art that many Mennonites know. This includes the 17th-century Dutch artist Jan Luyken, best known for his Martyrs Mirror illustrations. She includes folk art traditions, including quilts and Fraktur, a Pennsylvania Dutch art form featuring elaborately decorated script.

In the 20th century, as North American Mennonites ventured into broader avenues of society, a few sought professional training in the visual arts. Some stayed within the Mennonite community; others chose to leave, maintaining artistic sensibilities grounded in their Mennonite upbringing.

One of the earliest 20th-century Mennonite artists to achieve success in non-Mennonite circles was Albert Krehbiel. Originally trained as a blacksmith, Krehbiel sought formal training in Paris, where he was exposed to the newest developments in art. Upon his return, he had a successful career as an Impressionist landscape painter and teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In midcentury, Mennonite artists started being inspired by abstractionism. Two examples are Warren Rohrer, an influential painter from Lancaster County, Pa., and Robert Regier of North Newton, Kan., a painter, printmaker, designer, Bethel College professor and lifelong advocate for Mennonite visual arts.

Since the late 20th century, postmodernism has encouraged personal experimentation and meaning-making. Buller starts this section with a discussion of Canadian artist Aganetha Dyck, whose work from the 1970s deals with found objects removed from their traditional purpose and recombined to form new symbolic meanings in sculpture.

Karen Reimer and Gesine Janzen are 21st-century artists who embrace their Mennonite heritage as form and subject matter — Reimer through pieced and appliquéd fabric wall art, Janzen through prints and installations that reference her childhood home and historical Mennonite communities in Europe.

Randy Regier is a sculptor and installation artist whose work is based on narratives of fictional Mennonites of his own creation. He draws attention to issues related to personal, cultural and geographic fluidity, a hallmark of modern life.

Significant for Buller are efforts to invite visual artists’ contributions to Mennonite community life and worship experiences. In addition to noting the increasing use of artistic creations in Mennonite worship spaces, she highlights the inclusion of visual art in the 2020 Voices Together hymnal. She features three contemporary artists included in the hymnal: Dona Park, Anne Berry and Michelle Hofer.

Park’s image of communion celebrates her South Korean heritage. Designer and educator Berry’s energetic and pattern-filled image of a cross references her experiences as an artist of color. Hofer brings us full circle by referencing and recontextualizing details from Luyken’s Martyrs Mirror illustration of Dirk Willems.

The other three sections offer parallels (in the case of Quaker art) and contrasts (in the case of Mormon and Swedenborg-influenced art) to the development of Mennonite visual art.

The Quakers have often denounced the arts as a distraction, but ­Quaker artists have made important contributions both within and outside their faith. Edward Hicks, a 19th-century Quaker minister, is famous for his decades-long series of “Peaceable Kingdom” paintings — an important example of early American folk art. James Turrell is one the most important light-and-space artists working today. He creates spaces for a curated experience of light, including several Quaker meetinghouses.

Mormons have a history of embracing the arts as a tool for teaching LDS doctrine and history. LDS art and architecture often focus on its saints in visual styles meant to position Mormonism alongside historic civilizations such as the Egyptians and Greeks.

Now called the New Church, Swedenborgianism developed from the ideas of Emmanuel Swedenborg, an 18th-century Swedish theologian and scientist. He “claimed that his spiritual eyes had been opened so that he could freely travel between heaven and hell to communicate with angels, demons and other spirits.” His writings about the individual’s ability to spiritually transcend cultural and physical settings inspired several 19th-century artists, including the English writer and artist William Blake and the American landscape painter George Inness.

Variations in Christian Art does not contain a comprehensive list of artists that fit particular categories. It does make clear that Mennonite art, and more broadly Christian art, can be defined multiple ways, even within the same community, and often reflects a wide range of cultural, historic and personal influences.

Randy Horst is a retired professor of art at Goshen College and one of four artists whose illustrations appear in the forthcoming Anabaptist Community Bible.