Nowhere does Scripture forbid Scripture in art form. It is a tradition of men.
Question: Why do Catholics use crucifixes? Why do you keep Jesus on the cross when He is risen?
Short answer: because we are saved by Jesus, and not by a cross.
Long answer: The objection is often raised by non-Catholics in this way: "We Christians serve a Risen Christ, not a bloody, suffering victim as seen on your crucifixes."
The Catholic response is, as most Catholic answers are: it's not an Either/Or but a Both/And.
There is no need to say we can only serve a Risen Jesus OR a Suffering Christ. With all due respect, Catholics are quite capable of doing both!
However, we can't have a Resurrection without a Crucifixion, and, as Fr. John Corapi states, (paraphrasing) "If you ever hear a gospel which proclaims the Resurrection without the Crucifixion, or an Easter without a Good Friday, run away as fast as you can, for this "good news" is a great DECEPTION!" Many Christian denominations seem to focus on health/wealth and success as the expected entitlement of becoming a Believer. However, the suffering, death and crucifixion ought not be looked at as a defeat, but as a triumph. In fact, Jesus tells us in this upcoming Sunday's Gospel to expect suffering if one becomes a Believer: "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." -Luke 14
One cannot look at a crucifix without seeing Great Love. For, as Christ said, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13. When Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" came out I remember my pastor getting quite annoyed with the mainstream media's criticism that the film focused too much "on the suffering of Jesus and not enough on LOVE." My pastor was incredulous--how could you watch that film and see anything but LOVE--that was the entire message of His Crucifixion--he loved us so much he endured all of that for our sake! And that is what we are proclaiming when we display and venerate the crucifix. LOVE!
(My opinion: when modern day Christians (and usually it's "educated" liberal professor-types teaching at Catholic universities, sadly enough) object to Catholicism's veneration of the Crucified Christ rather than "the message of love, forgiveness and tolerance that Jesus came to spread",
they are completely missing the point of Christianity. Jesus did not come to preach a moral code--truly, he did not say anything new when he said "do unto others" or "turn the other cheek; he did not come to heal the sick--he really only cured a handful of people; he came to be the Lamb of God who took away our sins through his atoning death on the cross. THAT'S why all of this focus on a bloody, suffering victim by Catholics--it's 'cause we know it's not only about his message of forgiveness, however important it was, nor about the miracles of healing, however wonderful those were.)
Finally, Catholics no more "keep Jesus on the cross" than all Christians "keep Jesus an infant" when they display statues/photos of a baby Jesus in a manger at Christmastime.
3 Minute Apologetics: Why do Catholics use crucifixes?