Carlo Borromeo and the sacred image in sixteenth-century Italy : a reformer's itinerary / Grace M. Harpster, Georgia State University.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harpster, Grace M., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Charles Borromeo, Saint, 1538-1584--Travel--Italy.

Charles Borromeo.

Counter-Reformation and art--Italy.

Counter-Reformation and art.

Art and society--Italy--History--16th century.

Art and society.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 288 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026.

Summary:

Scholars have long acknowledged that reforms after the Catholic Council of Trent (1545-63) represent a watershed in art history, yet they have failed to agree on whether, and how, they had any effect on art. In this study, Grace Harpster offers new insights on the impact of Catholic reform on early modern art. Exploring the social roles of images in late sixteenth-century Italy, she demonstrates that the pressures of Catholic reform increased, rather than limited, the authority of the image. Harpster approaches the topic through a focus on the zealous, peripatetic reformer Carlo Borromeo (1538-84), who implemented new ways to police and pray to sacred images after Trent. His actions demonstrate that Catholic reformers endorsed the image as a powerful object, truthteller, and miracle-worker. The diverse corpus of images on his itinerary, moreover, reveals the critical role of the sacred image in a formative religious and art historical moment.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title

Title page

Imprints page

Table of Contents

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

Borromeo's Footprints

Our Reformer's Itinerary

Borromeo's Sacred Images

Part I Catholic Antiquities

Chapter One Sacred Objects

The Visitor as Conservator

Reform and Reframing

The Age of Sacred Images

Chapter Two Portraits as Artifacts

''Ancient'' Portraits as Evidence

Sourcing Portraits ''from Life''

Copies and Contradictions

Part II Narrative Experts

Chapter Three Abuses and Parerga

Scriptural Realism

Artistic Judgment

Curiosities and Control

Chapter Four Relics and Istorie

Borromeo's Too-Small Column

Borromeo's Too-Long Shroud

Part III Miracle-Working Images

Chapter Five Privileged Copies

The Gifted Copy

The Dedicated Copy

The Copyist's Skill Set

Chapter Six True Effigies and New Saints

Premonitions

Proofs

The Portraitist's Authority

Epilogue

Notes

References

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 23 Feb 2026).

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-009-66410-7

1-009-66412-3

1-009-66414-X

OCLC:

1570338739