Jesuit culture between texts and arts

It is an essential and specific feature of so-called Jesuit art that it served evangelisation in a broad sense, both in Europe and outside Europe – basically within the entire world at that time. This unique, so to speak, global reach of Jesuit art is a striking characteristic in the context of the history of modern art and culture in the European tradition subordinated mainly to the category of national and local taste.

This global reach is probably the reason why the Jesuits achieved such spectacular momentum in their artistic and cultural activities. The Order boldly adapted European cultural patterns to foreign traditions.

Jesuits were not afraid of combining and crossing many styles, sometimes really distant in an aesthetical sense. Moreover, they did not feel disgusted before popular art, perceived maybe even as low art in those times, seeing in it an excellent communication tool with the recipient.

from the Word of Introduction