The survival of early christian symbols in 12th Century Spain (original) (raw)

T he wide distribution of the Chrismon (or the monogram of Christ) in the monumental art of Spain and the Beam region of the eleventh to the late thirteenth centuries is an interesting phenomenon which has not escaped scholarly notice. Alain Sene, S. H. Caldwell and Constant Lacoste interpret the presentation of the Chrismon in Spain as a symbol of the Trinity, The Passion of Christ and his triumph over death 1. The study of these works is essential for an understanding of the complex religious significance of the monogram in Spanish Romanesque art. However, I shall attempt to take the inquiry a step further, and to consider why this symbol, one of the most evident in the early Christian era between the fourth and sixth centuries, lost its importance in Christian Europe, where it almost entirely disappeared, yet continued to appear in Spain in all periods with especial frequency from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries. The Chrismon signifies the Tninity, or, according to a broader interpretation, the Passion, the Victory over Death, and the Resurrrection. These dogmas were sacred for all Christianity, and if their representation were the only cause of the wide occurrence of the symbol in Spanish art, it would be difficult to understand why it disappeared from other Christian countries.

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