Abstract
This paper aims to examine the building scenes preserved in the cloister of the former Dominican convent of Santa Maria la Real de Nieva in Segovia, founded by Catherine of Lancaster in 1399. These sculptural reliefs had been previously interpreted as mere representations of the Dominican friars, actively involved in the construction of the convent, genre scenes useful for the study of medieval building systems, or even portraits of the friars who inhabited the convent around 1400. Nonetheless, these scenes could have been originally conceived as an instrument for the spiritual edification of the religious community, and most especially, of its novices, in a time when the Order of Preachers was being reformed.
Highlights
This paper aims to examine the building scenes preserved in the cloister of the former Dominican convent of Santa Maria la Real de Nieva in Segovia, founded by Catherine of Lancaster in 1399
These sculptural reliefs had been previously interpreted as mere representations of the Dominican friars, actively involved in the construction of the convent, genre scenes useful for the study of medieval building systems, or even portraits of the friars who inhabited the convent around 1400
These scenes could have been originally conceived as an instrument for the spiritual edification of the religious community, and most especially, of its novices, in a time when the Order of Preachers was being reformed
Summary
Entre la gran variedad de motivos que decoran el mencionado conjunto escultórico, imágenes de vida conventual y predicación, representaciones cinegéticas, escenas bélicas y motivos heráldicos, vegetales y animales, tanto reales como fantásticos, destacan las escenas de construcción y ornamentación del claustro, cuya importancia como fuente para el conocimiento de las técnicas constructivas bajomedievales ya apuntó R. Este estudio no pretende limitarse a una mera identificación y descripción de las mencionadas representaciones sino que aspira a ofrecer una interpretación de los significados subyacentes en dichas imágenes mediante el análisis comparativo entre estas y algunos de los textos, tanto tratados como sermones y documentos legislativos, elaborados por los miembros de la Orden de Predicadores entre los siglos XIII y XV, los cuales podrían haber servido como fuente de inspiración al ideólogo o ideólogos del complejo programa iconográfico del claustro.
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