La pervivencia del ars moriendi y los exempla medievales en el grabador decimonónico José Guadalupe Posada

Abstract

Where does the fascinating imagination of José Guadalupe Posada come from? From Mexican roots opposed to any cultural influence or colonialism, or from a medieval tradition that crossed the ocean several centuries ago? And to what extent does he reelaborate this ancient material? This article analyzes two images made by the mexican engraver at the end of the 19th century in order to illustrate two different pamphlets: in these images, the visual scheme of the medieval ars moriendi merged with the also centenary topic of “the death of the sinner” (itself derivated from the ars moriendi). This allows to show how Posada used and recreated models from New Spain, but also from Europe, in the context of a wide international circulation, maybe increased by the massive trade in religious images an, to a lesser extend, by a new “pastoral of fear” powered by a Church reacting to the attacks of the nineteenth century secularism.

Keywords

• 19th century
• iconography
• José Guadalupe Posada
• popular print
• representation of death