Art and Spirituality in Counter-Reformation Rome

Unprecedented in their scale, richness of decoration and multiple functions, the Sistine and Pauline Chapels represent two of the most complex public monuments built in the papal capital during the Counter-Reformation period. Art and Spirituality in Counter-Reformation Rome offers an interdisciplinary study of the chapels, providing an interpretive reading of their artistic programs as an expression of their patrons' personal spirituality and of the larger institutional concerns of the papacy as it confronted the Protestant challenge. Viewed within their religious, political, and social contexts, the historical meaning of the chapels is explored as a means to advance our understanding of the ways in which the post-Tridentine Church enlisted the visual arts to communicate and advance its mission.