THE SCULPTURE OF THE KEYSTONES OF BARCELONA CATHEDRAL (SPAIN)

Almost all of the one hundred and fifty-five keystones in Barcelona Cathedral bear religious imagery. These images are first considered as a whole to determine whether or not they constitute an iconographic program, then they are scrutinized individually to ascertain topographical relationships. Afterwards, the style of the sculpture of the keystones is examined to identify hands or workshops and comparisons are made with other contemporaneous works in sculpture and painting to find sources for styles. Throughout the thesis the "Libros de la Obra," a series of weekly ledgers continuous from 1378, provides detailed information about the construction of Barcelona Cathedral.;Chapter one deals with iconography. The principal task is to compare the images on the keystones with similar images in other media in order to ascertain if those in Barcelona Cathedral are programmatic. This examination reveals that the configuration of images on the six major axial keystones of Barcelona Cathedral constitutes an iconographic program centered on Redemption. Further, it shows that the remaining keystones in the cathedral and cloister are related to the program in varying degrees of importance. Following this, an examination of individual keystones discloses that each of those on the major axis is related topographically to the place in the church over which it is set.;The remaining three chapters deal with style. The sculpture is divided into three stylistic periods that correspond closely to the three periods of construction of the building. The first dates from 1299 to 1339; the second from about 1370 to 1400; and the third, from about 1405 to 1448. Within these divisions of style it is possible to isolate various workshops and to identify hands and sources of style. Keystones from the first period of style can be linked to workshops of well-known, contemporaneous, Italian sculptors. Keystones from the second period reflect the style of painting and sculpture in Barcelona at the time they were carved. Keystones from the third period of style usher in foreign currents popular in the French and Flemish courts of northern Europe during the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries.