El retrato religioso femenino en el Barroco españoldiseño, aplicación y evaluación de una unidad didáctica sobre el Siglo de Oro

Résumé

This doctoral thesis is divided into two parts. The first focuses on the study of images of venerable women of the Baroque period in Spain, encompassing the depiction of mystical experiences and portraits. The analysis of these images aims to show the iconography immersed in them, along with diverse aspects of feminine religiosity in the Baroque period and the changes which took place in the model of counter-reformist holiness established by these women. For this purpose, just over 200 images of venerable women have been collected in which certain common characteristics can be observed. These are divided between portraits and portrayals of significant supernatural episodes in their lives. The identification of similarities has made it possible to classify these images according to certain iconographic typologies. For the portraits, these are: abbesses, linked to the representation of authority; in an attitude of prayer, demonstrating postures which encourage prayer and devotion; funerary, emphasising portraits of crowned nuns and focusing on death as the transition towards the definitive union with God; of religious readers, associated to female education; and religious writers, in which the intellectual facet of these women is highlighted. In order to complete the perspective of the image of venerable women in relation to religiosity, representations of supernatural episodes have been analysed, in which the body is identified as the protagonist of the mystical event. These representations have been analysed in connection with their corporality. First of all, sacrifice and the mortification of the body are addressed, followed by illness, as a test from God; the gifts granted, via miracles and visions; and experiences of religious extasy, levitation and mystical marriage, among others. The methodology employed has been based on the iconographic and iconological analysis of the images, assisted by the consultation of bibliographic sources. The objectives proposed in this first section were: to present the situation of women in the Baroque era in Spain, in particular that of women dedicated to religion; to analyse the depiction of female religiosity in the Baroque period via images; to generate a classification of the portraits of venerable women based on certain iconographic typologies; and, finally, to explain the causes of the increase in number of these portraits. The results obtained have made it possible to gain an insight into the reasons for the increase in these images and to highlight the social role played by venerable women and the way they were portrayed. The second part of this thesis focuses on the design, implementation and analysis of the results obtained from an innovative teaching unit on the 17th century in Spain based on the art of the Golden Age, historical perspective and the visibility of women in Baroque society. A pre-experimental methodology was followed and the objectives were as follows: to use works of art as resources for the teaching of history; to increase the visibility of women in History classes; and to design, implement and evaluate an innovative teaching unit based on the historical thinking skills. To this end, the teaching unit was designed based on these concepts and applied in a school along with two data collection tools (pre-test and post-test). The results have made it possible to observe that the students have obtained a complete perspective of the 17th century in Spain and of Golden Age art and, via working on the skill of historical perspective, they have been able to research and become aware of the tools of the historian. Furthermore, they have learned a more complete history, in which women have acquired significance as historical subjects.