Church interior 

Andreas Altomonte created this church interior with pen and watercolour in the early 18th century. As with many artists of the Baroque period, Altomonte was deeply involved in the theatrical staging of religious experience. He came from a family of architects and painters who worked extensively on religious commissions throughout the Austrian Empire. In that context, architectural drawings like this were not simply records but proposals. This drawing shows an ornate domed space, similar to many being constructed across Europe at the time. But the people gathered in the foreground give the game away; these are actors. Their exaggerated gestures point to Altomonte’s vision for the church to serve as a stage set, a space where the rituals of the Catholic Church would come to life. To understand Altomonte’s image, we can look to the history of theatre design, the rise of absolutist power, and the Catholic Church’s attempts to maintain its influence in the face of the Protestant Reformation.