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Gabriele Paleotti (4 October 1522 – 22 July 1597) was an Italian
cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...
and
Archbishop of Bologna The Archdiocese of Bologna is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Northern Italy. The cathedra is in the cathedral church of San Pietro, Bologna. The current archbishop is Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, ...
. He was a significant figure in, and source about, the later sessions of the
Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...
, and much later a candidate for the papacy in 1590, and is now mostly remembered for his ''De sacris et profanis imaginibus'' (1582), setting out the
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
church's views on the proper role and content of art.


Life

Paleotti was born at
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...
. Having been awarded, in 1546, the title of Doctor of Civil and Canon Law (''utriusque iuris''), he was appointed to teach civil law. In 1549 he became a canon of the
cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...
, but he did not become a priest until later. He gave up teaching in 1555, and although he had turned down office as a bishop, he became in 1556 "Auditor" or judge of the
Roman Rota The Roman Rota, formally the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota ( la, Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae), and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience, is the highest appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin-r ...
, then the supreme Catholic
ecclesiastical court An ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages, these courts had much wider powers in many areas of Europe than be ...
, moving to Rome.
Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...
sent him to the Council of Trent, where he played an important role, as a mediator between reformers and conservatives. His ''Diarium'', or journal, on the proceedings of the council, forms one of the most important documents for its history. The complete text is published in the third volume of the ''Concilium Tridentinum''. After the Council Paleotti became one of the commission of cardinals and prelates that served as a basis of the Congregation of the council. On 12 March 1565, he himself was made a cardinal, and on 13 January 1567, was made Bishop of Bologna. In 1582 he became the diocese's first archbishop, when in 1582 that see was made an archdiocese. His early biographers praise his introduction of the Tridentine reforms in his diocese, comparing his activity at Bologna to that of
Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...
at Milan, but Prodi's biography emphasizes his frustrations, struggling with an inadequate staff and indifferent clergy, as well as encountering the difficulties caused by the Papal governors of Bologna, which was part of the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
. In 1589 Paleotti was obliged to take up residence in Rome when he was made Cardinal-
Bishop of Albano The Diocese of Albano ( la, Albanensis) is a suburbicarian see of the Roman Catholic Church in a diocese in Italy, comprising seven towns in the Province of Rome. Albano Laziale is situated some 15 kilometers from Rome, on the Appian Way. Und ...
and in 1590 Cardinal- Bishop of Sabina, both
suburbicarian see The seven suburbicarian dioceses are Roman Catholic dioceses located in the vicinity of Rome, whose (titular) bishops are the (now six) ordinary members of the highest-ranking order of cardinals, the cardinal bishops (to which the cardinal-patriarch ...
s near Rome traditionally held by senior cardinals. There also he distinguished himself by his zeal for reform, although it was becoming clear that his moderate stance was not being followed by the Church. His support for the rights of bishops and cardinals against the increasing
absolutism Absolutism may refer to: Government * Absolute monarchy, in which a monarch rules free of laws or legally organized opposition * Absolutism (European history), period c. 1610 – c. 1789 in Europe ** Enlightened absolutism, influenced by the En ...
of the Popes and Curia brought him into conflict with
Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...
. At the next
conclave A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Co ...
, in 1590, which elected
Pope Gregory XIV Pope Gregory XIV ( la, Gregorius XIV; it, Gregorio XIV; 11 February 1535 – 16 October 1591), born Niccolò Sfondrato or Sfondrati, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 December 1590 to his death in October ...
, Paleotti obtained the votes of an important minority. He died in Rome in 1597, a rather disappointed figure in his hopes for the Church and Church art, and is buried in Bologna Cathedral.


Writings on art

Paleotti was, with
Molanus Joannes Molanus (1533–1585), often cited simply as Molanus, is the Latinized name of Jan Vermeulen or Van der Meulen, an influential Counter Reformation Catholic theologian of Louvain University, where he was Professor of Theology, and Rector ...
and Cardinal
Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...
, one of the most influential writers to write filling out the brief decree of the council on religious images with detailed instructions on their
iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...
. He did not become greatly interested in art until the 1570s, when he began work on his ''Discorso intorno alle imagine sacre et profane'', consulting scholars and artists such as
Prospero Fontana Prospero Fontana (1512–1597) was a Bolognese painter of late Renaissance and Mannerist art. He is perhaps best known for his frescoes and architectural detailing. The speed in which he completed paintings earned him commissions where he work ...
,
Domenico Tibaldi Domenico Tibaldi (1541-1583) was an Italian painter and architect, active mainly in Bologna, in a Renaissance style. Domenico initially trained with his father, the famed Mannerist painter and architect Pellegrino Tibaldi. He helped construct a ch ...
and
Pirro Ligorio Pirro Ligorio ( October 30, 1583) was an Italian architect, painter, antiquarian, and garden designer during the Renaissance period. He worked as the Vatican's Papal Architect under Popes Paul IV and Pius IV, designed the fountains at Villa d� ...
. The ''Discorso'' was projected as a work in five books, but never completed. Two volumes and tables of contents for the rest were published in Italian in 1582 in what was intended as a provisional text, not properly revised. The work began with a consideration of the functions of religious and secular art, drawing on classical, biblical and
patristic Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...
writings, and generally awarding a high place to the role of art and the position of the artist, always guided by the church. Book II discussed specific issues of
iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...
in religious art. Following the council, he proscribed as sin any frivolity, indecorum, and use of traditional depictions without scriptural foundation. Unlike some clerical writers, he covered secular art, demanding Catholic standards of morality and decorum in that too, though he admitted to a correspondent that artists might be under financial pressures to produce "immoral" works. He rejected the excesses of
Mannerism Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ital ...
and supported naturalistic styles that were historically accurate and easy for the simple viewer to understand, and so represented "
silent preaching Silent preaching ( la, muta predicatio; it, muta predicazione) is a term used in Catholic Art to describe the use of religious images as a method of conveying devotional messages, teachings and religious concepts, beginning around the Renaissanc ...
". The plans for books III-V were to cover respectively secular art, saints and the Trinity in art, and the decoration of buildings, with closing "exhortations to the clergy, patrons and painters". The early religious paintings of Ludovico Carracci, working in Bologna in these years, perhaps came closest to Paleotti's prescription, but the
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
was to take Catholic art in other directions. An attempt by one scholar to demonstrate direct influence by Paleotti's work on the movement to naturalism in the style of
Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of t ...
failed to convince most art historians, as there was no actual evidence documenting any connection. The text was never completed, with a Latin edition of essentially the unrevised first two books published in
Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Ba ...
in 1594. Revisions done in Rome in the 1590s, and fragmentary drafts of the last three books survive. Despite being incomplete the work was widely read in the Catholic world, and the first English translation was published in 2012. In the 1590s, the tone of the disappointed Paleotti's writing changed, becoming harsher, and he proposed an equivalent for imagery of the ''
Index Librorum Prohibitorum The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbid ...
''.Olmi It was probably who commissioned Zurbarán's 1636-1639 ''
Saint Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...
''. A key book on Paleotti was written by Paolo Prodi, titled ''Il Cardinale Gabriele Paleotti (1522–1597)'', 2 vols. (Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 1967. David A. Lines also wrote "Gabriele Paleotti and an Unstudied 1583 Dossier on the University of Bologna", in ''Bologna—Cultural Crossroads from the Medieval to the Baroque: Recent Anglo-American Scholarship'', ed. by Gian Mario Anselmi, Angela De Benedictis and Nicholas Terpstra (Bologna:
Bononia University Press Fondazione Bologna University Press (BUP) is an associate publisher of the University of Bologna (Italy). The university is situated in the center of Bologna, where it was established in 1998 as an Italian University Press which was created as ...
, 2012).


Selected works


''De nothis spuriisque filiis liber''
(1573)
''Discorso intorno alle imagini sacre et profane''
(Latin ''De imaginibus sacris et profanis''), in two books of a projected five, 1582 in Italian, and 1594 in Latin, and in 2012 in English a
''Discourse on Sacred and Profane Images''
(Getty, 2012) *''Episcopale Bononiensis civitatis, et diocesis'' (1580)

(1594) * ttps://archive.org/details/bub_gb_C6xGy4AJwa4C/page/n3 ''De Sacri Consistorii consultationibus''(1594)
''De bono senectutis''
(1595)


Notes


References

* *Dennis, George T., review of ''Il Cardinale Gabriele Paleotti (1522-1597). Volume II by Paolo Prodi'', ''The Catholic Historical Review'', Vol. 57, No. 1 (Apr., 1971), pp. 84–85, Catholic University of America Press
JSTOR
*Gilbert, William, review of ''Il cardinale gabriele paleotti (1522-1597)'' by Paolo Prodi, ''The American Historical Review'', Vol. 74, No. 5 (Jun., 1969), pp. 1659–1660, Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association
JSTOR
*Jones, Pamela, ''The Age of Caravaggio: Early Modern Catholicism'', ''Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review'', Vol. 86, No. 341 (Spring, 1997), pp. 33–42, Irish Province of the Society of Jesus
JSTOR
*Olmi, Giuseppe, "Paleotti, Gabriele" in
Grove Art Online ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...
, Oxford Art Online,
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
, accessed March 22, 2013
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Further reading

*Bianchi, Illaria, ''La politica delle immagini nell' età della Controriforma: Gabriele Paleotti teorico e committente'', 2008, Bologna, Editrice Compositori, *Paleotti, Gabriele, ''Discourse on Sacred and Profane Images'', translated by William McCuaig, Introduction by Paolo Prodi, 2012, Getty Publications, , 9781606061169
google books
*Prodi, Paolo, ''Il cardinale Gabriele Paleotti (1522-1597)'', 2 vols, 1959 and 1967, Rome


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paleotti, Gabriele 1522 births 1597 deaths 16th-century Italian cardinals Cardinal-bishops of Albano Cardinal-bishops of Sabina Roman Catholic archbishops of Bologna 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Participants in the Council of Trent Italian art critics University of Bologna faculty