John Carmi Parsons wrote:
> Most accounts have it that paintings in medieval cathedrals were either
> destroyed or whitewashed at the Reformation. This of course would apply
> only to cathedrals in parts of Europe that became protestant, but I'd
> hazard a guess that Roman cathedrals gradually abandoned the practice
> beginning at around the same time.
I'm not sure that the practice was entirely abandoned. North American Roman
churches, including cathedrals, were decorated (not long after the Reformation)
with paintings and painted sculpture. The Church of the Iroquois in Quebec City,
for example, which is one of the earliest, was so decorated. So was the
cathedral at Montreal. Painted wooden sculptures, at least in my limited
experience, appear to be common in the earlier churches and cathedrals of Upper
and Lower Canada. I don't know whether these examples are typical, or whether
they represents an autonomous tradition. James Mills suggested the practice
might also be common to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Still, if there is a
demonstrable decline in fifteenth and sixteenth century church frescoes, for
example, I wonder whether the Reformation and its attendant iconoclasm might not
have taught Catholics that if one is going to invest heavily in decoration, it
might be best to invest in portable decoration.
Stephen
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