Modena's XVII Century churches reflect the important role of the Church in the city's life in the Counter-Reformation period and share a number of common architectural features. In the cultural climate after the Council of Trent, church-building was seen not only as the creation of places of worship, but also as an opportunity for using architectural splendour to sustain the Church of Rome against the Protestant threat.

Modena is not a text-book illustration of this rule, since many of its sacred buildings which date from this period have interiors richly decorated with mouldings and paintings, while their extremely simple brick exteriors are almost concealed in the surrounding urban landscape. (Although anyone looking upwards can easily appreciate their imposing size, underlined on the roofs by architectural features such as domes and lanterns). It is strange to wander through the city centre and note how these churches are virtually camouflaged between ordinary houses. In the zone known as the "Terranova" to the North of the Palazzo Ducale, added to the city by the rebuilding of the walls in the XVI Century, S. Maria degli Angeli is almost invisible, between the houses and the cinema Cavour in corso Cavour. Its status as a church only becomes clear if one looks upwards above the plastered wall and the discreet wooden doorway to the large windows and the double tympanum rising above the gutter lines. Two other XVII Century churches used to be at either end of the via Emilia, close to the city walls. They are S. Agostino, already described, at the West end and S. Biagio at the East, the latter with the brickwork of its right-hand side directly linked to the walls of shops and houses. The only sign that this church might be a building of some importance is the small courtyard in front of the door, which leads into an interior with a single nave, its length emphasised by the depth of the presbytery. The Baroque profusion of the decorations reaches the capitals of the columns, but leaves the ceiling bare. The splendour of the altars in inlaid marble and gilded marquetry can still be seen, although it has been dulled by time. To the South of the via Emilia, the facade of the church of S. Carlo is simply a continuation of that of the College of the same name, in the usual brickwork and with an unassuming doorway. However, an upward glance reveals the massive lantern which contains the dome, and the elegant lines of the facade, decorated at the sides by marble vases. Nothing on the outside hints at the magnificence of the interior, with a "Triumph of Faith" over the main altar and other Baroque mouldings. The church of S. Maria delle Assi, a short distance away at the end of Corso Canalgrande, is partly masked by its connection with the elegant antique pink of a hotel, and on the other clearly marked as a church by its small porch raised on four steps. The virtual obliteration of the lunette fresco, which once portrayed a "Coronation of the Madonna" and the almost black colour of the ochre exterior make it obvious that this church is now in disuse. Close to the now flattened city walls, the church of S. Bartolomeo (via dei Servi) used to mark the southern boundary of the city and is connected to the vast edifice which was first a monastery, and then for a long time the seat of the classical high school. In the imposing interior with its three wide naves, no effort has been spared in ensuring that every scrap of wall is covered by altars, plaster mouldings or paintings. In spite of its size, the church still obviously looked too small for its builders' taste, because the perspective paintings on the ceilng extend its height by creating the illusion of architectural features and even a dome, with a skilful painting on canvas resting on the low lantern. The XVII Century churches of S. Domenico and the Madonna del Voto offer a complete contrast. S. Domenico is a stone's throw from the Palazzo Ducale, and its massive size indicates its important role in an area very much created by the Este family. Its interior, with its Greek cross layout, is very impressive, but the placing of the altar in the central circle gives a feeling of intimacy in spite of the vast spaces which surround it. The huge pairs of columns at the corners of the cross are pure illusion, created in the scagliola with which the Carpi masters of the XVII onwards were so skilful in imitating the costly glories of marble. The Baptistery (to the left of the main door) contains the terracotta group by A. Begarelli entitled "Jesus in the Home of Martha and Mary", in which the realistic modelling of two serving-wenches seems to contrast somewhat with the Renaissance classicism of the other figures. The church of the Madonna del Voto, erected by the community in fulfilment of a vow made to the Blessed Virgin after the ending of the plague of 1630, stands outside the area of the city dominated by Este planning, where via Emilia meets Corso Duomo. The building, designed by the architect known as Galaverna, is less squat than the other churches of the same period, thanks mainly to its elegant dome, given an upward thrust by the supporting tambour. Viewed from Piazza Matteotti, along the perspective offered by its left-hand side, the church's dome curiously appears to be the same height as the Ghirlandina tower, and so the white marble decorations around the dome, with a garland motif, seem to imitate the white of the Ghirlandina itself. What's more, the metal balustrade around the base of the turret seems to recall the marble garland around the pinnacle of the city's main tower. On the other side, the square ends with the low brick bulk of the church of S. Giovanni Battista, its symmetrical ground plan clearly visible even from the outside. The bell-tower finds a secular counterpart in the two-floored roof-top loggia on the buildings along via Emilia, accompanied by a vast array of chimneys. In spite of its attractive proportions the church is unpretentious, but it contains a worthy prize for anyone who decides to go inside in the Deposition by G. Mazzoni, the great XV Century sculptor. This work in painted terracotta has been undergoing restoration for some years, but the group of figures in the Madonna della Pappa on view in the crypt of the Cathedral give a clear ideal of Mazzoni's realistic style.