Allegory: his relevancy in the preaching and use in "La novena maravilla"

Abstract

This article focuses on the usage of allegory as an exegetical method in the composition of panegyric sermons by Juan Espinosa Medrano (Peru, 17th Century). It traces the path of allegory (and of humanities in general), which has always been in tense relationship with Christianity throughout its history, and arrives at its exacerbated usage as a method in the Baroque preaching during the Counter Reformation. To enlighten this last moment, it is particularly important the sacred oratory by Espinosa Medrano, who includes elements drawn from various different sources (natural philosophy, classical mythology, emblematic tradition, biblical) that operate as signs of another larger truth, the sacred. While the mandatory sacred preaching drove to plain and simpler forms, the profusion of mythological allegories, which the author resemantizes following his interest of guiding the interpretation, can be explained by several circumstances that will be analyzed in this article.