Download or read book Altarpieces and Their Viewers in the Churches of Rome from Caravaggio to Guido Reni written by Pamela M. Jones and published by Lund Humphries Publishers. This book was released on 2008 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A social history of reception, this study focuses on art and Catholicism in early modern Rome. The five public altarpieces examined here-by Caravaggio, Guercino, Guido Reni, Tommaso Laureti, and Andrea Commodi-are seen anew through the eyes of female and male viewers from all walks of life. In treating officially sanctioned and unorthodox responses, Jones illuminates problems churchmen faced when trying to channel the power of images to reform Catholic society.