Azariah Alfante

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Decimonónica

Volume

19

Issue

1

Publisher

Decimonónica

Publication Date

2022

First Page

1

Last Page

19

Abstract

Inscribed on a section of bare wall in the renowned thirteenth-century Monasterio de Piedra of Zaragoza are the words: “Templo destruido y sus imágenes mutiladas durante el tiempo que medió entre la revolución de 1835 y el año 1840, en que pasó a propiedad privada.” The text’s emotionally charged language refers to the mid-century disentailment laws under Juan Álvarez Mendizábal. Its phrases “templo destruido” and “imágenes mutiladas” depict the monastery’s confiscation as a tortuous experience before it passed into private ownership, thus testifying to the monastery’s resultant damage and loss of its historical community and identity. Similarly, other old church buildings in Salamanca are said to be “desaparecidos,” according to the gallery labels at the Museum of Salamanca, which was built in 1835 to house artwork taken from the province’s decommissioned religious edifices.

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