Displaying art in a sacred space: The artworks for the Triunfo of St. Ferdinand in Seville Cathedral (1671)

González-Román, C. and MacArtney, H. (2022) Displaying art in a sacred space: The artworks for the Triunfo of St. Ferdinand in Seville Cathedral (1671). In: Bianchi, P. (ed.) Displaying Art in the Early Modern Period: Exhibiting Practices and Exhibition Spaces. Series: Routledge Research in Art Museums and Exhibitions. Routledge: New York, pp. 131-152. ISBN 9781032202884

Abstract

This chapter examines the role of Seville Cathedral as an exhibition space, and the collaboration between the artists involved in the construction and decoration of one of the most impressive ephemeral monuments of the Early Modern period in Spain, which combined paintings, sculptures, emblems, and inscriptions in a multilayered display. It also analyses the role of the spectator and the performativity of the Cathedral space in which the Triumph was exhibited, a space that assumed an extra-quotidian function and meaning beyond those of its everyday use. Such aspects are inherent in the etchings contained in Torre Farfán’s volume Fiestas de Sevilla, and specifically, in the two large folding plates interrogated here: the larger one illustrates the focal Triumph monument; and the other, its location and the relationship between the interior and exterior space of the Cathedral. Concepts of expanded scenography are here taken beyond the regulated spaces of the theatre, enabling us to better understand and reinterpret ephemeral architecture exhibited in other spatial environments, in this case a sacred one. Our approach also allows significant factors such as affectivity, relationality, and the materiality of the objects on display to be examined within the context of the performative and multisensory atmosphere created for these celebrations.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: MacArtney, Dr Hilary
• Authors: González-Román, C., and MacArtney, H.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > History of Art
• Publisher: Routledge
• ISBN: 9781032202884
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Contributor
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy