Lectura de un documento de Inocencio XI en clave de manierismo barroco

Abstract

Since de middle of the XVI century, we notice a process of gestation, formation and development of a very peculiar kind of letter of difficult reading. It was called littera sancti Petri or scriptura bullatica. The phenomenon concerned only documents executed by the pontifical Chancellery. With regard to the diplomatic point of view they follow the medieval praxis in their internal and external features. In this report we present two explanations of the fact: a) the influence of the aestthetic principles of the baroque culture and b) the regressive tendency of the Contrareform.