¿«Contra el antiguo»?: Painting as Means of Agnition in Golden Age Comedia

Abstract

Italian neo-Aristotelians were the theorists who consolidated the doctrine of the classical unities in the second half of the 16th century. However, Spanish authors proceeded to a redefinition of the traditional precepts, to give the drama a new theoretical concept and an original dimension according to the new times. The rising of the Spanish comedia advocated the mix of dramatic genres and the creative freedom in contrast to the strict dramatic doctrine. Even so, such new theatrical model did not imply a massive rejection of the principles and poetic mechanisms introduced by Aristotle, but a reformulation of the neo-Aristotelian doctrine from Italy. Mimesis, the poetical unity or decorum remained as poetical foundations. As a result, the Spanish comedia shared the neo-Aristotelian spirit of its time, but from a different perspective compared to the Italian proposal. The Aristotle's influence can be observed in the renewal and updating of theatrical anagnorisis, insofar as the painting became a characteristic device for recognition in the Spanish comedia. This paper weighs such issues in the light of the intense dialogue that word and image kept in the Baroque under the guidance of the topic ut pictura poesis.