LLEI D'ART 13

DiegoVelázquez. Cristo crucificado / Christ crucified, c. 1632.Museo del Prado (Madrid) that delight uswithholy facts, parables and metaphors that havebeenworthyof being deemedbymany experts as an important part of art history. If wecouldmove to theMiddleAges, we would surelybeable tobetter understand theholinessof art: a timewhenworship was carriedout indarkenedchurches and cathedrals home to sculpted,modelled, carvedandpainted figures that tried to preachandeducate tomake faithgrow. Figures thatweregivenmovement by the light of candles andgently shifted the viewer’sperception, beingable to take them to statesof alteredconsciousness typical of religious experiences. Objects that came to live in themindsof thoseopen to see them through theoral traditions repeatedbypriests in the rituals. Let us imagineanaltarpiecewith themain figures centreand raised, withbrightly coloured, luxurious clothes, instructing the smaller figures, placedon the sides and lower down, witha softer coloring andmore frugal clothing. Flanking the latterwe see the representationof goodandevil, loveand fear, reminding the faithful what their place in theworld is and their possible salvation inheavenor damnation inhell. Andall of this at thebackof the lugubriousmain hall of thebiggest house in thecity, lit by flickering lights that give that effect of movement. Artworks that, inmany cases, causeda sublimeaestheticexperience andadesire tobebetter inorder to reach thisdreamed-of paradise. 27