Religious Culture or Cult?: Literary and Visual Perceptions and Experiences of the Virgin Mary in Spain and the New World (13th-16th c.)

The Virgin Mary, an idolized figure, has influenced believers’ lives across geographical and chronological boundaries throughout the Iberian Peninsula and the New World. It is evident that over the centuries there has been a transformation of the Virgin Mary’s perception and representation among Iberian audiences in both literature and the visual arts from the 13th to 16th centuries. This study will discuss the Virgin Mary through shifts created via cultural manifestations and will attempt to answer the following questions: What place does the Virgin Mary occupy in medieval Spain and its colonial territories’ religious cultures? Is it a physical or symbolic place? What were the characteristics of these varied spaces she inhabits? How do these places and spaces change over time based on historical evidence and events? It is critical to discuss and understand the Virgin Mary’s representations, perceptions, experiences, and conceptualizations through literature and paintings. Mary’s space and place occupies and affects both the creator and audience of the texts and visual arts: whether she is a subject or an object (icon or statue) and whether she is represented institutionally or privately.

Grantor dc:publisher

Temple University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Adamski, Brooke Jean

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Piera, Montserrat

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Piera, Montserrat
• Pueyo Zoco, Victor
• Lorenzino, Gerardo
• Delbrugge, Laura, 1968-

• Foreign language education
• Cult
• Culture
• Medieval Spain
• New World
• Virgin Mary

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://scholarshare.temple.edu/handle/20.500.12613/11174

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/11174