Fun Fact #442 The Architect's War

 Fun Fact #442

The Architect's War

While much of the French army ignored or sold the art of the places they conquered,  there was one faction with a more drastic strategy. The Iconists –Meaning “Breakers of The Image”-- were a group of people who sought to remove all Idols and anything that could be idolized from society. They were responsible for most of the destruction of Monuments such as the Gerf Hussein Temple (resting place of Ramses the 2nd who is mentioned in the book of Exodus), Art like the San Zeno Altar, manuscripts, and famous ships such as the Bucantar (The Venetian Ceremonial barge shared with the Catholic Church). 

Yet by far the largest loss was “The Jewel of Vicenza” which was a miniature silver model of the City of Vicenza made by the city’s Architect Andrea Palladio. Palladio is widely considered to be one of the greatest architects in history with his designs forming the basis of most Church designs made from 1528 into present day. This model involving over 300 buildings was so small and intricately made that it took until 2013 for a new jewel to be made on the same scale. 

This severely ticked off the architects of the time and so they began to steal art and icons before the French moved into places and hid them away within churches and other buildings. In some cases even taking up arms and killing Iconists, until Catholic Abbot Henri Gregorie united them and approached the French government offering to design buildings dedicated to the peaceful display of these confiscated items. His Idea was accepted, spawning the French Museum System, and the Louvre was constructed shortly afterwards.

If you’re interested in the recreation of the Jewel it is now on display in the Dioceasan Museum in North Eastern Indiana (2 hours north of Indianapolis). Also kind of fun; this Jewel is what inspired the intro the the Game of Thrones series revolving around model cities.

Image of the 2013 recreation.