'Ecclesiae militantis triumphi': Jesuit iconography and the Counter-Reformation

The Ecclesiae militantis triumphi (1583, 1585), a print series reproducing the late-sixteenth-century ambulatory frescoes of Santo Stefano Rotondo, offered Jesuits a concise history of Early Christian persecution through the depiction of martyrdoms from the time of the primitive church. The addition of four allegories not found in the Santo Stefano Rotondo cycle develops the meaning of the print series and links Early Christian sacrifice with theological doctrine established at the Council of Trent. Guided by both text and image, Jesuits could meditate upon the historical litany of martyred saints and at the same time examine, through allegory, the Catholic position on issues such as grace, sin, and justification. For Jesuit missionaries to the Protestant north, the Ecclesiae militantis triumphi pictorially established contemporary Tridentine decisions as worthy of the faith and sacrifice demonstrated by the Early Christian martyrs.