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Alte Galerie > Our programme > Exhibitions > Between Dying and Dancing > Propaganda fidei

Propaganda fidei

Art as a means of teaching faith

The Counter-Reformation not only extends to church interiors, where great altarpieces help instruct the people. Numerous small-sized paintings are also intended to help spread the substance of the faith in the home. They are ideally suited for internalizing the church’s teachings. and are often painted according to graphic templates. Thus, the Counter-Reformation finds its way into new collectors’ galleries. It instructs the elites how to live a life pleasing to God. The contemplation of art becomes a form of meditation. What is needed are topics from the life of Christ and the saints, inciting viewers to immerse themselves into His suffering and dying. Penitent saints such as Mary Magdalene become role models. Religious devotion shapes everyday life of the upper class in many places. Intense piety should offer a refuge from outward distress.

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Penitent Mary Magdalene

The scene of the pictorial action is a hermit cave, home to the most prominent penitent in the Catholic calendar of saints, St. Mary Magdalene, who devotes herself entirely to asceticism and meditation. Seclusion from and renunciation of secular life are the main hallmarks of early monasticism; they shaped the ascetic self-image of the great reformed Orders. In its constant struggle against laxity and secularisation, the Counter-Reformation came to see a reinvigorated role model in the type of the selfless ascetic with his “joyful penitence”. Believers were expected to emulate their religious devotion and intense piety.

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