Avaliação: Imaginar las fronteras. Prácticas y estrategias de (auto)representación en el mundo hispánico – A Comparative Study: Representation of Power between Viceregal Lima and Papal Rome (XVII century)

Recent historiography, as for example Osorio’s study on Lima, demonstrated how civic ceremonies were fundamental to create a viceregal culture (Osorio 2008). With this study, I would like to propose a comparison of organizational and performing dynamics in two case studies: the viceregal entrance in Lima and the possesso ceremony in Rome, during 17th century. The aim of this juxtaposition is to show up new element of analysis in the understanding of the intersection of multiple actors in constructing the image of power.

Studies on Lima demonstrated how the ancient roman urban model (grid plan) was a main element in the construction of the city (Merluzzi 2017). However, this idea can be visible even in the entrance of the viceroy in Lima, being in accordance with the Spanish propaganda (Osorio 2006). Thus, the intent is to put the viceregal city in dialogue with Rome. Even if out of the Catholic Monarchy the city of the popes was under its indirect influence (Dandelet 2001). Moreover, it was historically and geographically connected with the idea of the Roman Empire. The suggestion of the Empire was evident in Papal Rome, which used symbolic places, architectures, and pageantry to highlight the connection between the State of the Church and the Ancient Roman Empire (Visceglia 2002). Ceremonies, such the Possesso, are clear examples of how representation of power passed through a construction made by various actor, creating a specific imaginary of the city, social groups, and the monarch (Schneider 1996).

Thus, a comparative study of processional entrance in Lima and Rome will give the possibility to show new aspects of the viceregal ceremonies, underlining social internal frontiers of the city and the importance of the dialogue between the new representative of power and civic architecture as portrait of the past and the future of local communities.

• Representaciones del poder
• siglo XVII
• Lima y Roma
• Ceremonial
• Fronteras sociales