Between the Written Sources and the Liturgical Calendar
An Approach to the Study of Pregnant Annunciations
Abstract
Between the 13th and 15th centuries a new way of portraying the Annunciation was developed in the Iberian Peninsula. This iconographic variant, which depicts the Virgin in an advanced state of pregnancy, enjoyed great acceptance in the territories of the Crown of Castile and the Kingdom of Portugal. Even though there is no unanimous agreement on the reasons for this emphasis on the pregnancy, most researchers coincide in pointing out the transfer of the feast in the Hispanic Rite —from the 25th of March to the 18th of December, giving rise to the so called Feast of the Expectation— as the main potential cause. This article is intended to make an approach to the sources of the passage, seeking for possible connections with the features that typify these Annunciations, without losing sight of the influential capacity that the new feast of December had, as did the writings of Saint Ildephonsus of Toledo, its alleged creator.
##submission.format##
##submission.crossmark##
License
In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Eikon Imago is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.
