The Bible in the Literary Imagination of the Spanish Golden Age: Images and Texts from Columbus to Velázquez (review)

The Bible in the Literary Imagination of the Spanish Golden Age offers a beautifully illustrated exploration of the direct and indirect use of the Bible in art from the time of Columbus (1451–1506) to the work of the painter Diego Velázquez (1599–1660). According to Terence O’Reilly, the impact of the Bible on the literature of the Golden Age constituted a neglected field of study due to restricted Scriptural access attributed (generally) to the Inquisition’s prohibition (1599) of vernacular editions (3). During this period many great texts associated with spirituality and mysticism were written by Ignatius of Loyola, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Luis de León and other less well-known mystics. They were deeply infused with biblical references acquired through the practice of lectio divina, as well as familiarity with a very rich exegetical tradition that had long been developing in Spain. Furthermore, indirect access to stories and images from the Gospels, Psalms and Epistles was possible through devotional and catechetical works, paintings and other art forms.

O’Reilly writes, therefore, to address misconceptions that religious culture in Spain during this period was divorced from reference to Scripture. “This book has been written in the conviction that in order to understand and appreciate the culture of the Spanish Golden Age, we need to refine and extend our awareness of how the Christian Bible was read, interpreted, and transmitted in the society of the time. . . . Its focus is . . . the literature and art of the age, which it approaches by examining closely a selection of remarkable texts and paintings produced in Spain between the time of Columbus and Velázquez” (xv). Unlike Northern Europe, where Scripture translations in the vernacular were widely available, in Spain two subcultures existed: “. . . one learned and Latinate, the other popular and vernacular. The first was centered on the study of the Latin Bible and its patristic and medieval commentators. The second was based on knowledge of Scripture that was partial and indirect but ubiquitous” (217). This “biblical culture” overflowed into secular works such as the two that are discussed here: the anonymous picaresque novel Lazarillo de Tormes, and the drama El Condenado por Desconfiado (The Man Condemned for Lack of Trust).

The Bible in the Literary Imagination of the Spanish Golden Age contains a preface, introduction, six chapters, and epilogue that focus on particular works or themes incorporating biblical texts and images. The Introduction provides an excellent survey of the field. For readers whose interest lies primarily in the field of spirituality, the first, second, fourth and sixth chapters provide a rich discussion (often with illustrations) of the works of Baltasar Gracián, John of the Cross, Ignatius of Loyola, Luis de León and other mystical writers. The arguments in each chapter are carefully supported by scholarly research, which can be found in extensive notes and a bibliography that draws on research by Spanish scholars as well as others.

Chapter One examines the way in which the discovery of the New World was interpreted through the lens of biblical texts. In the works of Columbus, for example, his first impressions of the new lands and their inhabitants are interpreted as an earthly paradise—a familiar yet different world. Columbus uses a reference to “distant isles” in Zephaniah 2:11 in his Book of Prophecies to explain how the discovery of the New World had been predicted in the Bible. The image of “distant isles” and life as a sea journey shaped from the imaginative world of the Song of Songs can also be found in John of the Cross’s Spiritual Canticle and Dark Night.

Chapter Two is a survey of the biblical sources for the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Ignatius is an example of one...