Iconología simbólica en los bordados populares toledanos

Abstract

This thesis has researched the symbolic iconology in Toledo’s popular embroideries, finding out about a series of designs which appear frequently in the traditional works of the area. Choosing those which were considered relevant within the field of symbols, it has been possible to elaborate a series of hypothesis which contribute to add information on the true value of the symbolic contents, apart from their aesthetic beauty and unquestionable contribution as works of art not only as textile art. Therefore, one of the main objectives of this thesis is to awaken to the present the immense treasure of the images in the embroideries ; true it is that sometimes they have been degraded due to repetition: they have changed in “shape”, they have become “familiar” but they haven’t reduced their potential strength. The purpose of this doctoral thesis has been to deepen in the analysis of the ornamental images and motifs that appear in the textile art of embroideries, in particular the Toledo popular embroideries of the XVI-XX c. To begin with the objectives of the research from a point of view as wide as possible, we have used the iconological method, following the theories of Edwin Panofsky, establishing a relation between thought and image. In so far as the purpose of iconology is to decipher the hidden meanings in the figures produced by men, it presents unquestionable connections with hermeneutics. The hermeneutic method has allowed us to go deeper into the knowledge of things starting from the dialectic between the all and the parts. We have been able to see that the images are polyvalent, both in their study as well as in their own structure. Due to the multicultural character of Toledo the inherent and intercultural symbolism, its interaction and projection in the art of embroideries, as been the starting point to establish the first layers on which this research is based. Apart from all these socio-cultural influences, in the historical context of the building of the system of research, we have investigated in other subjects that interact to reach to the final meaning o the symbol because within various plans of articulation articulate from where to focus on the global paradigm which is the hermeneutic and iconological interpretation. In this manner, we have proven how within the interpretative paradigm, there is a symbolic interaction, in the sense that the people act on the objects in their world and interact with other people taking off from the meaning the objects and people have for them, as to say, from the symbols.