Decretum Gratiani, Venezia, 1604
In the first half of the XII century (1140-1142 approx) the Camaldoli-based monk Gratian collects canons and decrees, sources of canon law, and with the aid of hermeneutical techniques, he attempts to explain and eliminate the contradictions, thus starting the process that, in the Western world, will lead to the total separation of law from theology. The title of the work is, significantly, Concordia discordantium canonum, although it became better known as the Gratian Decretum. The frontispiece features architectural wings depicting in the centre Pope Gregory XIII, (who, in 1582, officially published the Corpus Iuris Canonici) with the Decretum emendato. At the top of the image sit evangelists and doctors of the church; in the bottom-centre is Enrico da Susa the Ostiense (ca. 1200 - 1271), the most famous of canonists, surrounded by distinguished colleagues, identified by their names.