A comparison of approaches to art in the constitutions of the Orders of the Discalced Carmelites and Trinitarians
A comparison of approaches to art in the constitutions of the Orders of the Discalced Carmelites and Trinitarians

Summary/Abstract: The reform process of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity (Trinitarians) developed under the strong influence of the Teresian Carmel, which is reflected in the dependence of the first constitutions of the Discalced Trinitarians (1614) on the statutes of the Spanish Congregation of the Discalced Carmelites (1604). The article discusses the regulations on the artistic activity contained in the aforementioned texts and in the later statutes of both orders (including the unpublished constitutions of the Outside-Spain-Family of the Discalced Trinitarians compiled in 1770) that have as yet not been studied by historians of the Trinitarians Order. The analysis of these provisions leads to the conclusion that Trinitarian approach to art was determined by the legislations of the Spanish Discalced Carmelites and by the third point of the Trinitarian Rule, ordering that their churches were of simple construction. Unlike the Spanish Discalced Carmelites, the Discalced Trinitarians systematically modified their regulations, adapting them to the changing circumstances in which the religious buildings were constructed.

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