Conclusions

Summary

The conclusions commence with the warnings against idolatry contained in the ancient inscriptions of the basilica of San Marco, words that appear to have taken on a new resonance in light of the image debates of the Cinquecento. Some observations on the prevailing mindset with regard to majestically constructed and adorned churches are then made, contrasting the wide acceptance for such projects amongst late sixteenth-century Catholics to the Protestant distaste for the ‘idolatrous’ statues and images to be found throughout Venice. This book closes by reasserting one its central themes: the ability of contemporary artists in the city to invent novel visual solutions that encouraged certain beliefs at a fertile moment in the history of art.