Idololatria Vilnensis: The Confessional Debates of Jesuits and Protestants on Sacred Images in the 16th Century Lithuania

Despite the abundance of theological treatises in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the late 16th century, only five of the eighty-six known titles deal with the use of sacred images and reveal the opposing sides of Catholics and Protestants in such confessional debates. The Protestant perspective is...

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Main Author: Tomas Riklius
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Vilnius University Press 2025-01-01
Series:Literatūra (Vilnius)
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.journals.vu.lt/literatura/article/view/36628
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author Tomas Riklius
author_facet Tomas Riklius
author_sort Tomas Riklius
collection DOAJ
description Despite the abundance of theological treatises in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the late 16th century, only five of the eighty-six known titles deal with the use of sacred images and reveal the opposing sides of Catholics and Protestants in such confessional debates. The Protestant perspective is represented by Andrzej Wolan’s 1583 treatise ‘An Attack on the Idolatry of the Loyolites of Vilnius’, which relies primarily on theological arguments to criticise the Catholic practice of using sacred images. Wolan’s critique, while rooted in theology, also touched on the Renaissance humanist perspective on aesthetics to question the sensual appeal of Catholic sacred art. In response, the Catholic theologian Andrzej Jurgiewicz defended the use of sacred images, emphasising their role as visual witnesses of Catholic tradition in a post-Tridentine aesthetic paradigm. This article analyses these theological and aesthetic arguments of Wolan and Jurgiewicz found in treatises representing Catholic and Protestant positions in the polemical debates on the use of sacred images in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 16th century.
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spelling doaj-art-f42a37f819544596a8dd228b20688b042025-01-20T18:21:14ZdeuVilnius University PressLiteratūra (Vilnius)0258-08021648-11432025-01-0166310.15388/Litera.2024.66.3.3Idololatria Vilnensis: The Confessional Debates of Jesuits and Protestants on Sacred Images in the 16th Century LithuaniaTomas Riklius0Vilnius Academy of Arts Despite the abundance of theological treatises in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the late 16th century, only five of the eighty-six known titles deal with the use of sacred images and reveal the opposing sides of Catholics and Protestants in such confessional debates. The Protestant perspective is represented by Andrzej Wolan’s 1583 treatise ‘An Attack on the Idolatry of the Loyolites of Vilnius’, which relies primarily on theological arguments to criticise the Catholic practice of using sacred images. Wolan’s critique, while rooted in theology, also touched on the Renaissance humanist perspective on aesthetics to question the sensual appeal of Catholic sacred art. In response, the Catholic theologian Andrzej Jurgiewicz defended the use of sacred images, emphasising their role as visual witnesses of Catholic tradition in a post-Tridentine aesthetic paradigm. This article analyses these theological and aesthetic arguments of Wolan and Jurgiewicz found in treatises representing Catholic and Protestant positions in the polemical debates on the use of sacred images in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 16th century. https://www.journals.vu.lt/literatura/article/view/36628confessional debatessacred imagesAndrzej JurgiewiczAndrzej Wolanearly modern period
spellingShingle Tomas Riklius
Idololatria Vilnensis: The Confessional Debates of Jesuits and Protestants on Sacred Images in the 16th Century Lithuania
Literatūra (Vilnius)
confessional debates
sacred images
Andrzej Jurgiewicz
Andrzej Wolan
early modern period
title Idololatria Vilnensis: The Confessional Debates of Jesuits and Protestants on Sacred Images in the 16th Century Lithuania
title_full Idololatria Vilnensis: The Confessional Debates of Jesuits and Protestants on Sacred Images in the 16th Century Lithuania
title_fullStr Idololatria Vilnensis: The Confessional Debates of Jesuits and Protestants on Sacred Images in the 16th Century Lithuania
title_full_unstemmed Idololatria Vilnensis: The Confessional Debates of Jesuits and Protestants on Sacred Images in the 16th Century Lithuania
title_short Idololatria Vilnensis: The Confessional Debates of Jesuits and Protestants on Sacred Images in the 16th Century Lithuania
title_sort idololatria vilnensis the confessional debates of jesuits and protestants on sacred images in the 16th century lithuania
topic confessional debates
sacred images
Andrzej Jurgiewicz
Andrzej Wolan
early modern period
url https://www.journals.vu.lt/literatura/article/view/36628
work_keys_str_mv AT tomasriklius idololatriavilnensistheconfessionaldebatesofjesuitsandprotestantsonsacredimagesinthe16thcenturylithuania