The Network of Cassinese Arts in Renaissance Italy

This volume brings new perspectives to the outstanding corpus of paintings, sculptures and architectural works made for the Benedictine Cassinese Congregation of Santa Giustina between 1419 and 1582. This stretch of time registered profound social and religious reforms that brought about changes in the arts. Cassinese monks were among the first to promote innovative typologies of buildings decorated by some of the most inventive pre-modern masters, Correggio, Raphael, Romanino, Begarelli and Sabatini, included. Documented by Gregory XIII's Bull of 1582 that is published for the first time in the volume, the infrastructure of Cassinese religious houses spread across almost all regions on the Italian peninsula. This collection of essays explores the Cassinese artistic network, issues related to the mobility of artists, works, and models, and the tension between high & low (monks encouraging of ex-votos offerings, for example) during the glorious one hundred and seventy years of their patronage. By bringing together the work of German, North American, and Italian scholars, this collection of essays offers a nuanced understanding of the function of Cassinese artworks as agents of faith and Christian reform.