El Siglo XVIII en la Catedral de Orihuelala Nueva Imagen

Resumen

One of the main objectives of this research has been to highlight a series of updates and achievements that took place during the 18th century in the Orihuela Cathedral and which substantially modified its appearance, updating it to the new stylistic trends and betting on an aesthetic that would show the pre-eminence of the cathedral over other diocesan temples. All this while showing a correlation between Orihuela and the other cathedrals in the Hispanic world, confirming that the seventeenth century was one of the moments of maximum apogee and splendor for these buildings. To this end, all the works that have dealt with specific aspects have been collected and compared to obtain a unitary vision of all the artistic fields, providing alternative hypotheses and trying to fill the possible gaps that historiography still had on this subject. To this end, the research work in the different archives of the city of Orihuela has been fundamental, since it has allowed, on the one hand, to corroborate theories and, on the other, to launch new hypotheses about the different areas of the cathedral in this century. To this end, the present investigation has been divided into three blocks in order to concentrate the information and limit the subjects of study. The first of these is dedicated to the general contextualization of the cathedral in its most immediate surroundings, making clear the importance of the economic context, but also the social and cultural context in order to understand the evolution of the building. The second section deals with the promoters interested in highlighting the importance of the building and providing it with works sponsored by themselves. Within this section, the importance of the Parish Council is highlighted, a secular institution that will be in charge of financing and executing most of the works and reforms that are carried out, as well as making all kinds of ornaments. The financial aspect of this one, nourished by a good decimal item, will be essential to understand its functioning and also its load of responsibility within the administrative gear of the cathedral. Thirdly, an attempt is made to compare Orihuela Cathedral with the other Hispanic cathedral temples, offering a comparison that places it in a movement common to all of them that will take place in this century and that will have as its main and fundamental objective, the updating of its image. In accordance with this premise, all the areas that underwent some kind of modification or were part of an artistic endowment or furnishing program in Orihuela cathedral are analysed. To this end, an attempt has been made to build a unitary account that does not show biases but rather unites all the historical and artistic points of view that shaped the eighteenth-century image of the cathedral. The drafting of this work has led to a series of conclusions among which the connection of the Orihuela Cathedral with its Hispanic counterparts in terms of development and implementation of reform programs during this century stands out. This fact can be directly linked to the model proposed for the Main Chapel from the beginning or with the provision of a sufficiently abundant and representative of the condition of the temple itself. The worship of the Eucharist will also be one of the recurring themes, which will allow a renovation of the trousseau as well as quite outstanding architectural actions, linked to the economic prosperity that the area would experience throughout the century and which would be, to a great extent, the main responsible for all these changes.