Del Aristóteles cabalgado en la sillería de la catedral de Zamora (ca. 1500)

Abstract

Some theoretical problems of iconological research have resulted in contradictory interpretations about the marginal iconography of Hispanic choir stalls. Here I focus on the motif of mounted Aristotle, carved in the stalls of Zamora's cathedral about 1500. Supported by a cross-sectional bibliography, I gather foreign and Castilian literary sources together to clarify the textual associations that induce the polysemy and the versatility of this iconography. The revision of the theory of the Power of Women from the perspective of Visual Studies, as well as of the comic function of iconography, reveal a political discourse that is transmitted through the stalls, where the mounted Aristotle is combined with other motifs. After reflecting on the categories of «the profane and the religious» and «the image of desire and conscience», I reinterpret the motif of mounted Aristotle according to its various levels of meaning, with the purpose of understanding its religious and didactic functions in the context of Gothic choirs.

Keywords

• stalls
• Zamora
• mounted Aristotle
• iconography
• literature
• spanish literature