Educación para el silencio y el secreto en la Nueva Granada a partir del uso de la imagen de San Juan Nepomuceno

Abstract

This work gives an account of the circulation and appropriation of the Saint John of Nepomuk images on the New Granada in the 17th and 18th centuries. It presents an approach to the neogranadian baroque world from its understanding of the body and martyrdom, which serves as a gateway to analyze the construction of an imaginary and an iconography at the service of the sacrament of confession called Saint John of Nepomuk. This devotion that was propagated through images in painting or sculpture, as well as devotional and hagiographic literature, promoted silence and sacramental secrecy as a Christian virtue, which avoided falling into murmuring and lying. It is also an inventory of the images of the saint that currently survive in the churches and museums of Colombia, bringing the reader closer to the geographical areas where the image was used. It concludes with an analysis of the polychrome sculptures of the Colonial and Santa Clara museums in Bogotá, which stands out for the detail of the language imposed by the Catholic religion on New Granada society, with the purpose of maintaining the call to silence and secrecy.