The Triumph of the Church over the Jansenists - French School of the 17th century

The Triumph of the Church over the Heresies of the Jansenists
French School of the 17th century
Oil on canvas
Contemporary gilded frame
Canvas : cm. 97 x 73
Frame : cm. 120 x 95
Good condition

This very interesting and rare French painting from the 17th century shows the Pope, illuminated by the dove of the Holy Spirit, brandishing a flaming sword accompanied by allegorical figures of Religion and the Power of the Church.
On the left, the King of France, with the support of Concord, Justice and Piety, drives away Jansenism and its train of evils, including error, deception and ignorance, which find refuge with the Calvinists.
The work transfers onto canvas a contemporary print made by Jean Ganière and published in a Church almanac at the most bitter moment of the dispute that saw the Church of Rome itself, supported by the King of France, confront the Jansenist and Calvinist movements. The scene is particularly lively with a dense description of characters and allegorical figures. The author demonstrates great ability in rendering the entire composition three-dimensional with bright colours and strong chiaroscuro contrasts.

Note:
Jansenism was a religious movement that initially developed in Belgium and Holland and then spread throughout the Catholic world from the first half of the 17th century to the end of the 18th century.

It had as its center the abbey of Port Royal, near Versailles, on the outskirts of Paris.

Jansenism owes its name to Cornelis Jansen (1585-1638, Italianized as Cornelio Giansenio), a Dutch theologian, professor in Louvain (now in Belgium) and author of the work "Augustinus", inspired by the thought of Augustine of Hippo.
Defending the Augustinian conception of original sin and salvation through divine Grace, Jansenius argued
that original sin deprived man of the freedom to will, making him incapable of good and necessarily inclining him to evil.
The grace of salvation is granted by God, through the sacrifice of Christ, only to a select few. (This strong concept of predestination has brought Jansenism closer to Calvinism.)
Other important contents of Jansenism are a life marked by the most absolute moral rigor, and the fundamental importance of the Bible to the writings of the Fathers of the Church.

Jansenius opposed the increasingly dissolute ecclesiastical morality and the doctrinal approach of the Jesuits, who instead believed that salvation was always within reach of every individual, on the sole condition that he followed the precepts of the Church.

In 1653, Pope Innocent X, with a papal bull, condemned as heretical the positions on grace and free will, on universal sin and on redemption.
Jansenism entered into open conflict, not only with the papacy, but also with the French monarchy, until in 1709 Louis XIV imposed the closure and destruction of Port Royal.

Jansenism continued to exist as a political, cultural and religious movement throughout the eighteenth century, contesting papal primacy and monarchical absolutism.