The saint above the door: hagiographic sculpture in twelfth-century Uncastillo
Julia Perratore
Over the course of twelfth century, six fine Romanesque churches were built in town Uncastillo, Aragon. Three these display carved hagiographic scenes on tympana above their principal entrances, a highly unusual placement for saints’ lives during this period. Though subject matter responds to broad interest imagery across post-conquest Aragon, its prominent location and recurrence multiple both motivated by political social factors shaping kingdom at time. On one hand, hagiographies’ allegorical evocations Christian conquest speak relevance Aragon's territorial expansion town's inhabitants. other, sculptures’ church portal – focal point community contemporary experience urbanization which resulted organization into different neighborhoods. Considering with respect sculptural traditions, reconquest rhetoric, patterns urban settlement development, I argue that Uncastillo's experiments form iconography aspired cohere communities dynamic period transformation.
Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies