Catholic Counter-Punch

The Catholic Counter-Reformation responded by doubling down on imagery. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) declared that images were essential tools for teaching faith to the illiterate. Artists were instructed to make religious scenes more emotionally intense and physically dramatic to win hearts back from Protestant austerity.

This theological arms race produced Baroque art — Caravaggio's brutal realism, Bernini's ecstatic sculptures, and vast ceiling frescoes designed to overwhelm viewers with divine spectacle. The more Protestants stripped their walls, the more Catholics filled theirs.