English

The modern times
Reformation and Counter-Reformation:
the Baroque
The appearance and diffusion of the printer is a fact that characterizes and
differentiates the culture of the modern world from former periods. The possibility
of printing several copies gave rise to the birth of the world of books, and a
certain democratization of culture, which was no longer an exclusive heritage of
the ecclesiastical communities. The first printer of Galicia, and one of the oldest
ones of Spain, was located in Monterrei, very close to Verín. It was there where
the first Galician incunable took shape, the Missale Auriense, which is currently
kept in the museum of the cathedral of Ourense.
Together with the taste for books and the quick diffusion of ideas, Europe was
shaken by the ideas of an Augustinian monk, Lutero, who preached from
Germany for a radical reformation of the church, which must leave their
earthly power behind, and focus again on the spiritual part. The diffusion of
these thoughts provoked a reaction from Catholicism that was agreed in the
Council of Trento. It is the so-called Counter-Reformation, characterized by a
reaffirmation of the Orthodoxy and the Catholic faith, and which gave rise
to an artistic style, the Baroque.
Baroque was a reaction against the
Protestant reformation: if this stood
out for a simplification of the cult and
the architecture, now a reaffirmation
of ostentation and ornamentation
was produced. It is one of the artistic
styles that has left the most and best
examples through the territory of the
peninsular northwest, what proves the
success of the counter-reforming spirit
of this geographical area.
Missale Auriense (cathedral of Ourense)
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