PROCESSIONAL IMAGERY IN CATALONIA: FROM THE BAROQUE TO THE NEOBARROCO”

Unusual features and external influences

Abstract

Our communication aims to study two types of images that have in common the fact of being presented ritually in outer space, where they take on meaning and their “activation” and effectiveness take place. These are, on the one hand, festive imagery and, on the other, images of Easter. Both also share the fact that they are processional images in origin. The images of the eagle as a municipal symbol, imaginary beasts such as the dragon or the giants formed an essential part of the Corpus Christi procession, although they were progressively relegated by the church to a more secular and playful setting. On the other hand, the most important part of the text will be dedicated to the processional sculptures - fundamentally the so-called “pasos de Semana Santa” - in Catalonia, in a context that we can consider “peripheral” with respect to the great centres of Hispanic Holy Week, such as Castile and, above all, Andalucía.