This is the first English translation of Gabriele Paleotti's 16th century treatise on the role of art in society. In the wake of the Counter-Reformation, Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti, the archbishop of Bologna, wrote a remarkable treatise on art during a time when the Church feared rampant abuse in the arts. Translated into English for the first time, Paleotti's "Discourse on Sacred and Profane Images" argues that art should address a broad audience and explains the painter's responsibility to his spectators. "The Discourse" is introduced by historian Paolo Prodi, who explains how - even if the archbishop did not succeed in reforming the arts - Paleotti's treatise constituted one last synthesis of art as a reading of creation and salvation history, and "sacred" art as a vehicle of devotion.

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