Resumen de Spanish Religious Imagery and Post-Tridentine Theory
Post-Tridentine decrees and manuals on the ministry of preaching intensified the visuality of discourse in order to combat Reformation iconoclasm. As a result, correlations between rhetoric and imagery were not limited to speculation among theologians, but had real consequences for the public who listened to sermons and/or contemplated religious images. Just as sacred subject matter conferred upon preaching a status superior to profane oratory, Paleotti or Pacheco, amongst others, defended the nobility of visual arts because of the subjects they represented, notably those with religious themes.
In Spain, a particular consequence of the querelle between the intrinsic quality of an artwork, bound to its mimetic capacity, and an artwork’s persuasive efficacy, was the necessity to sort out the comparison (paragone) between painting and polychrome sculpture. This latter art form was circumscribed by the jurisdiction of a mature corpus of ecclesiastical theory on the image, which attempted to prevent idolatrous abuses and immoderate iconic veneration. On the one hand, Counter-Reformation theology sought to reduce the work’s impact on irrational sensibility; on the other hand, it urged ‘image-makers’ to move the spirit and elevate piety, whilst simultaneously avoiding the undesirable secondary effects of awkward or lascivious images. By interacting with altarpieces and individual sculptures to make the sermon almost visible, Spanish preachers would reconcile delectare with docere and movere, while shaking up their audiences with the aid of visual imagery.
