The Italian Baroque paintings, comprising an astounding 105 works, form the core of the BJU M&G collection and provide a survey of styles and artists that is unsurpassed in the United States. Beginning about 1590, artists made a conscious effort to break away from the artifice of Mannerism. The mannerist emphasis on the design and decorative aspects of art resulted in paintings that failed to communicate. With the onset of the Protestant Reformation (1517) and the subsequent reaction of the Council of Trent (1545–63), the Catholic Church looked to artists to produce painted propaganda that would help regain their influence over the populace.