I’ve always really liked Caspar David Friedrich’s painting, “Cloister Graveyard in the Snow”. In it, we see a
crumbled cathedral with only a bit of the porch and chapel remaining amid
twisted, dark trees. But if you look closely, in the middle ground, you’ll see
a trail of monks still marching into the ruins, presumably to continue their
monkish duties.
The painting has both a positive and a
negative message about religiosity. On the one hand, it suggests faith can
persist even when, socially speaking, religiosity is generally perceived be in
ruins; but on the other hand, it also reminds us that ritual can persist even
when the life of a church is gone.
I guess the message you take depends on the
perspective with which you view it.