Art in Dispute

Wietse de Boer, Ph.D. (1995) is Professor of History at Miami University. His research focuses on Italian early-modern religious and cultural history. His publications include The Conquest of the Soul: Confession, Discipline, and Public Order in Counter-Reformation Milan (Brill, 2001).

“[...] the value of Art in Dispute is undeniable. It is a necessary reference for graduate students and scholars in early modern religious history and art history. For art historians, the book opens avenues to consider the potential impact these debates had on sacred style during these respective periods.”Anne H. Muraoka, Old Dominion University. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 76, No. 4 (Winter 2023), pp. 1478–1480.“Wietse de Boer’s superb book delves into the intense mid-sixteenth-century debates among Catholic scholars, about sacred images. […] I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the early modern image debate. De Boer enriches our understanding of the heterogeneous opinions and intense discussions among leading Catholic theologians before, during, and after 1563.”Jeffrey Chipps Smith, University of Texas, Austin. In: Church History, Vol. 91, No. 4 (December 2022), pp. 925–926.“[…] a distinguished contribution to recent attempts to put the Council of Trent (1543–1563) in its proper place […]. This book is essential reading not only for art historians but also for anyone interested in how and why the Roman Catholic church after Trent managed to save visual images “as the language of new devotional or meditative practices” (130)”. Simon Ditchfield, University of York. In: Journal of Modern History, Vol. 96. No. 4 (December 2024), pp. 980–981. “De Boer setzt einen neuen Standard […] und leistet einen zentralen Beitrag zur aktuellen Reflexion über den medialen und ontologischen Status von Bildern.”Theresa Gatarski, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum. In: Kunstchronik, Vol. 75, No. 12 (December 2022), pp. 609–614.“essential contribution”Ralph Dekoninck, Université catholique de Louvain. In: Francia-Recensio, 2023/2. “Conducted with uncommon erudition and philological rigor – the author excels in the art of detecting intellectual connections […] Wietse de Boer’s work not only restores an important page in the history of the cult of images in the West, but this page constitutes a missing link […] between two periods which academic divisions tend to separate all too often.” (translated from the French) Nicolas Balzamo, University of Neuchâtel. In: Revue d’Histoire Ecclésiastique, Vol. 120, Nos. 1–2 (2025), pp. 388–391.

• PrefaceList of IllustrationsAbbreviationsPart 1: History1 Premises: The Sacred Image in an Age of Religious Crisis1 The Thomist View and Its Critics2 Early Catholic Responses to Reformation Critiques3 The Image Question in the Mid-Sixteenth Century4 Marcello Cervini and the Image Debate2 Disputes: The Sacred Image and the Counter-Reformation1 The Traditions of Martín Pérez de Ayala2 In Defense of Thomism: Matthieu Ory3 Ory and Calvin4 How to Honor Images: Ambrogio Catarino5 Nacchianti’s Road to Orthodoxy3 Reverberations: St. Germain, Trent, and Beyond1 On the Sidelines of Trent: Eliseo and Ninguarda2 Diego Laínez between St. Germain and Trent3 Trent: The French Connection4 A Previously Unknown Draft5 A Question about Honor6 Beyond Trent: Paleotti to Bellarmino7 ConclusionPart 2: DocumentsNote on Editions and TranslationsI Martín Pérez de Ayala Corollarium de imaginibus sanctorum / Corollary Concerning the Images of SaintsII Matthieu Ory De cultu imaginum / The Worship of ImagesIII Matthieu Ory – Jean Calvin Opposing Views on Sacred ImagesIV Ambrogio Catarino Politi Disputatio de cultu et adoratione imaginum / Disputation on the Worship and Adoration of ImagesV Iacopo NacchiantiDigressio de imaginum usu ac cultu in ecclesia dei / Digression about the Use and Worship of Images in God’s ChurchVI Council of TrentDraft of the Decree on Saints, Relics, and Images / Draft of the Decree on Saints, Relics, and ImagesAppendicesSelected BibliographyIndex