Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: My dissertation examines the Cámara Santa of the Cathedral of Oviedo as both a medieval and modern monument, shaped by twelfth-century bishops and twentieth-century restorers. I consider the space as a multi-media ensemble, containing manuscripts, metalwork, and sculpture, arguing that we must view it as a composite—if fragmented—whole. My analysis focuses on the twelfth century, a crucial period during which the structure, decoration, and contents of the Cámara Santa were reworked. A key figure in this story is Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo (d. 1153), who sought to enhance the antiquity and authority of the see of Oviedo by means of the cult of its most important reliquary: the Arca Santa. I argue that this reliquary shapes the form and function of the twelfth-century Cámara Santa, considering the use of the space in the context of liturgy and pilgrimage. Finally, I consider the sculpture that lines the walls of the space, arguing that it animates and embodies the relics contained within the Arca Santa, interacting with the pilgrims and canons who used the space. Thus, this sculpture represents the culmination of the long twelfth-century transformation of the Cámara Santa into a space of pilgrimage focused around the Arca Santa and the memory of the early medieval patrons of the Cathedral of Oviedo, a memory which abides to this day. What is importantly new about my project is this historiographic frame, combined with a theoretical approach that challenges traditional methods and interpretations. I foreground the importance of the Cámara Santa for both regional and national identity. My reflexive reading of the medieval and modern histories of the Cámara Santa offers alternative interpretations for a space whose meaning has long been presented as ideologically fixed.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Flora Thomas Ward
Language: English
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3145915246