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Charles Marvin Fairchild (SFS '48) Memorial
Gallery and Woodstock Theological Center Library
September 17 to December 2, 2007
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Georgetown University, (1580-1726)."
 St.
Francis Xavier
Woodcut. 30 x 39 cm. Modena,
Italy: Solían, 1550-1600. A representation of the saint resting on a mat under
a simple hut on the seashore, where in
the center a caravel sails surrounded
by fluttering birds and fish who eye him curiously,
while in the opposite, upper right corner
appear three curly-headed seraphim amid
the rays of a divine sun.
The piece is not listed in [the catalogue] I legni
incisi della Galleria Estense (Modena, 1986).
Woodstock Theological Center Library
 The
Popish Plot
Etching on copper, anonymous and undated. 38 x 31 cm,
trimmed at the point where the plate has
left its mark on the paper. Presumably
Amsterdam, ca. 1690.
Satirical etching with many allegorical elements whose
protagonist is James II (1633-1701), Stuart king of England.
He is clothed in a monastic habit, alluding to his policy
of restoring Catholicism in the United Kingdom. “The
last farewell toast of King James with the King of France,” which
is the beginning of the title, refers to the support
the former received from the latter. The crown on the
verge of falling from James’ head, and the broken
scepter mock the end of his reign, which lasted just
three years, after which William of Orange arrived. Behind
the king the figure of a Jesuit alludes to the Society’s
presumed involvement in the so-called “Popish Plot” of
1679 against the reformed churches, a plot “revealed” by
that murky figure Titus Oates, a kind of adventurer and
fomenter of religious strife at that time in England.
Woodstock Theological Center Library
 The
Fall of the Jesuits
Engelbrecht,
Martin. Etching.
34 x 50 cm. Augsburg?, ca. 1759-1760.
“When the Giants made war against Jupiter, Jupiter
with this customary lighting bolts …”
Satirical etching inspired by the expulsion of the Jesuits
from all the countries of Europe (except Prussia and
Russia) and from their colonies, during the years of
the worst persecution suffered by the Society. This would
end in the suppression of the order by Pope Clement XIV
in 1773. The ambitious edifice that symbolizes the Society
of Jesus is crumbling in ruins beneath the thunderbolts
coming from the escutcheons of the great powers of Europe
(France, Spain, and primarily Portugal). The members
of the Society are sent tumbling among the blocks of
stone, each named for a particular nation. These are
infested with serpents and dominated by a nine-headed
dragon, well-known symbol of sin and wickedness. As a
didactic note accompanying this image there is a citation
in Latin and Italian from Ovid’s Metamorphoses about the mythical episode of the Giants struck by Jupiter’s
lightning as punishment for their impious attempt to
scale the heavens – an obvious parallel to the
punishment meted out to the powerful religious order.
The text at the foot of the page ends with an encomium
to the Marquis of Pombal, the Portuguese prime minister
who was a most bitter enemy of the Jesuits and promoted
the widespread campaign against them.
Woodstock Theological Center Library
 Insignia
of the Society of Jesus
Anonymous. Etching on copper. 27 x 39
cm., plus margins. Etching.
Probably Genoa, 1760.
In the upper part, under a title inscribed
on a fluttering ribbon, the insignia of the Society are
surrounded, above by a gallows and a torture wheel; on
the right by a large, six-headed Hydra intent on ripping
apart with its fangs the Bible and other religious texts,
while with its talons crushing the tablets of the Law,
a volume of “The Law of the Nations” and
various religious symbols. On the left of the insignia
are two Jesuits in long black cassocks, who trample on
the Pope while concealing beneath their cloaks the Devil
armed with a dagger. At their feet lies the King of Portugal
run through by a sword. One of the two holds a list with
the names Molina, Escobar, Bellarmine, Zaccaria, Busembaum,
Guignard, Berruyer, Pichin, Malagrida and Mamachi. At
the far left on a marble pedestal there is a statue of
a Mandarin with an umbrella, alluding to the Chinese
Rites controversy. In the lower section there is a large
architectural frame in renaissance style containing a
text of 28 lines. In it we read, “The coat-of-arms
of the Jesuits elaborated on the basis of the crimes
of every type of which they are guilty. Their weapons
are the sword, fire and poison, with which they bring
ruin both to sovereigns and to their subjects, if they
ever happen to oppose the Jesuits’ detestable and
Machiavellian plots.” After a long list of the
misdeeds of the Jesuits, it concludes, “May God
will that this publication cover them with a salutary
confusion and convert them, Amen, amen.” According
to Venturi, “It is the most significant document
of the violent anti-Jesuit campaign inspired by the Jansenist
tradition.” (Cf., Franco Venturi Settecento Riformatore
[Turin: Einaudi, 1969-90]) There also exist versions
of this rare etching with the text in French.
Woodstock Theological Center Library
 The
Execution of Father Malagrida
Adhortatores. Malagrida jam jam strangulando. Single
folio, 25 x 35 cm., comprising in the
upper part an etching on copper of
11 x 16 cm., and below it a printed text
of two columns in Latin and Italian.
A cut from the left margin to the center
of the image has been restored. Lacking
typographical information, ca. 1761.
A rare single folio, published separately
on the occasion of the execution of Father
Malagrida. The “Comforters” (or Adhortatores)
are the two priests, one Dominican and
the other Capuchin, who
in the illustration are leading Father
Gabriele Malagrida (1689–1761) to his execution.
He was accused of having participated
in the plot against Joseph I, king
of Portugal, and was subsequently also
charged with heresy and false prophecies.
Malagrida is holding a long candle,
has a "bit" between his teeth to prevent
him speaking, and on his head is the high
conical cap characteristic of those condemned
by the tribunal of
the Inquisition. In the background one
can see the tortured man being burned
at the stake, surrounded by a large
crowd, which is kept at the required distance
by guards. The bilingual text recounts
the phrases with which the
two priests “comfort” the
condemned man.
Woodstock Theological Center Library
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