Reading Romanesque Sculpture: The Iconography and Reception of the South Portal Sculpture at Santiago de Compostela

Abstract

Although recent scholarship and reception theory have demonstrated the importance of audience in the actualization of meaning in images and texts, more concerted attention is necessary to understand the polyvalent iconographic readings of Romanesque sculpture. Imagery on the south portal of the cathedral of Santiago conveyed messages of ecclesiastical authority to specific audiences, namely the cathedral chapter and inhabitants of the town. The unseverable link between the cathedral of Santiago and pilgrimage, however, has caused scholars to overlook the importance of the local population as an audience for the cult of St. James and the art patronage program of the cathedral's bishop, Diego Gelmírez (1100-1140). This paper will explore the reception of the iconography of the cathedral's south portal by various audiences in the twelfth century. The cathedral canons and townspeople may have responded to the imagery in a manner diametrically opposed to the prescribed reading of this sculptural ensemble commissioned by the bishop. The audiences' multiple readings, mis-readings, and non-readings of the south portal imagery demonstrate the indeterminacy inherent in the iconography of Romanesque sculpture and highlight the importance of the dialectical relationship between production and reception to its understanding.