Pierre COUHAULT

Representation of the Sack of Rome as a divine scourge in a treatise and prognostication on the war of Rome, ms. Spencer 81, f. 3v, New York Public Library. Source : Wikimedia Commons

Guided by Christ and the Virgin Mary, Peter (the pope) holds the rudder of the ship carrying the apostles and saints. The Doctors of the Church propel the ship toward reconquered Constantinople, while the saints of the Counter-Reformation, led by the archangel Michael, defend it against ancient (Arius) and modern (Luther and Calvin) heresiarchs. In the four corners are scenes evoking the expansion of Christianity, the Crusades, and martyrdom. Painted in Mexico, this allegory of the Counter-Reformation Church was inspired by Italian engravings. Anonymous painter of the seventeenth century, The Ship of Mystical Contemplation (The Triumph of the Catholic Church), Tepotzotlán, Museo Nacional del Virreinato. Source : Wikimedia Commons