“Lisonja igual de la vista que del entendimiento”: material emblemático en las fiestas de beatificación teresiana (1614)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is the analysis of the presence of symbolic culture in the celebration of the beatification of Teresa of Avila in 1614 in all the territories of the Spanish Monarchy. The consultation of festive relations reveals the enormous amount of emblematic material in the different venues that hosted it, because the main events have their corresponding “hieroglyph” as emblem, empress or device. An overview will allow us to recognize the degree of assimilation of the emblematic language in Spain at the beginning of the 17th Century in its dual purpose docere-delectare, as well as its relationship with other components of the Baroque celebration, such as the Visual Arts, devotional and hagiographic books, poetry and sacred oratory; and, at the same time, we rebuild physically some hieroglyphics composed for the occasion, from their original sources and descriptions preserved in the festive chronicles.