English

Mannerism emerged as a late current in the final phase of the Renaissance. For a long time it was unjustly condemned: the very word implies artificiality and affectation. This is how 17th-century Classicist critics understood it, as they rejected everything that was unconventional, bizarre, or fantastic. It was only in the 20th century that...

The Jesuit order was the work of St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556). He was born in Spain, into a Basque minor noble family, and was severely wounded as a soldier in 1521. During his convalescence he read religious works and suddenly converted. In Manresa, Catalonia, he undertook spiritual exercises and experienced visions. He was tormented by...