St Charles Borromeo and Catholic Art and Architecture

Charles Borromeo, Receipt for the return of twelve books
Vatican Library

In 1563, the Twenty-Fifth Session of the Council of Trent had issued a statement “On the Invocation, Veneration, and Relics of Saints, and on Sacred Images."

The details were filled out by amongst others, St Charles Borromeo. Borromeo published Instructiones Fabricae et Supellectilis Ecclesiasticae, in 1577. It was the central document that applied the decrees of the Council of Trent to the design and furnishing of Catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Milan. But its influence was much wider than the diocese.

In CHARLES BORROMEO AND CATHOLIC TRADITION REGARDING THE DESIGN OF CATHOLIC CHURCHES, By Matthew E. Gallegos, Ph.D, Dr Gallegos discusses Borromeo`s Instructiones.

The article is from The Institute of Sacred Architecture (Fall/Winter 2004) and can be accessed at http://www.sacredarchitecture.org/pubs/saj/articles/borromeo.php