Cruces procesionales en La Rioja : aspectos tipológicos, siglos XIII al XVI

Abstract

The work is centred on the evolution of the Gotic processional cross in La Rioja from the XI/Ith. century until the XV/th. starting from the preserved pieces of the region. First of all, we analyze concisely the historical and artistic situation of that period as well as the Romanic preceding pieces (silver cross of Mansilla de la Sierra, 1109) and the historiographical sources. The examples of processional crosses in La Rioja offer six different models in which we can distinguish another six formal variations. The evolution would start with the greek cross, widened, without imagery, of the X/lth. century, goingthrough the lys-flowered latín cross with melted or chiselled iconography, stones and enamelworks of the X/IIth. and X/Vth. centuries, lasting out during the XVth. century, until we reach the cross with cylindrical arms. This one symbolizes the concept of lifetree knothy armed or not which appears in the XVth. century and develops itself in the XVI th. century. Each one of the types is analyzed, as much in the formal aspects as in the technical and iconographical ones. We have considered them first individually, then in relation with the others and in the third place showing their parallelism with the peninsular silversmith's. There are more than twenty-five preserved examples placed on different locations in La Rioja and we have carried out the particular survey of all of them.