The Catholic Church answered Reformation-era contestations of the cult of images in a famous decree of the Council of Trent (1563). Art in Dispute revisits this response by focusing on its antecedents rather than its consequences. The mid-sixteenth century saw, besides new scholarship on Byzantine doctrines, heated debates about neo-scholastic interpretations. Disagreement, suppressed at Trent but re-emerging soon afterwards, centered on the question whether religious images were solely signs referring to holy subjects or also sacred objects in their own right. It was a debate with major implications for art theory and devotional practice. The volume contains editions and translations of texts by Martin Perez de Ayala, Matthieu Ory, Jean Calvin, Ambrogio Catarino Politi, and Iacopo Nacchianti, along with a previously unknown draft of the Tridentine decree.

Preface List of Illustrations Abbreviations Part 1: History 1 Premises: The Sacred Image in an Age of Religious Crisis 1 The Thomist View and Its Critics 2 Early Catholic Responses to Reformation Critiques 3 The Image Question in the Mid-Sixteenth Century 4 Marcello Cervini and the Image Debate 2 Disputes: The Sacred Image and the Counter-Reformation 1 The Traditions of Martin Perez de Ayala 2 In Defense of Thomism: Matthieu Ory 3 Ory and Calvin 4 How to Honor Images: Ambrogio Catarino 5 Nacchianti's Road to Orthodoxy 3 Reverberations: St. Germain, Trent, and Beyond 1 On the Sidelines of Trent: Eliseo and Ninguarda 2 Diego Lainez between St. Germain and Trent 3 Trent: The French Connection 4 A Previously Unknown Draft 5 A Question about Honor 6 Beyond Trent: Paleotti to Bellarmino 7 Conclusion Part 2: Documents Note on Editions and Translations I Martin Perez de Ayala Corollarium de imaginibus sanctorum / Corollary Concerning the Images of Saints II Matthieu Ory De cultu imaginum / The Worship of Images III Matthieu Ory - Jean Calvin Opposing Views on Sacred Images IV Ambrogio Catarino Politi Disputatio de cultu et adoratione imaginum / Disputation on the Worship and Adoration of Images V Iacopo Nacchianti Digressio de imaginum usu ac cultu in ecclesia dei / Digression about the Use and Worship of Images in God's Church VI Council of Trent Draft of the Decree on Saints, Relics, and Images / Draft of the Decree on Saints, Relics, and Images Appendices Selected Bibliography Index