THE BODY OF CHRIST
Baroque theater funtion in Buenos Aires (18th century)
Keywords:
Descent from the Cross, Articulated Christs, Detachment of the cross, Good Friday, Buenos AiresAbstract
This paper intends to approach the function of the Descent from the Cross, a pre-liturgical practice widely spread all over the Spanish Colonies in America, practice that implied the use of articulated images of Christ. The image, object of this study, is the Christ placed at Our Lady of Monserrat in Buenos Aires, image that according to Maestro Schenone is unique, the only one of its kind that has been preserved. It is an iconographic model that has a double function, hrist
stays crucified during the whole year up to Good Friday afternoon when the image is removed from the cross to be tand kept into an urn. This double functionality (crucified and lying) requires the articulation of the arms, hile the ostordinary ones are those that have articulated shoulders with hidden rings; that is why they are usually called hinge images.
