Globus cruciger: Spheres and Empires in the Hispanic Enlightenment

Following Melvin Richter’s understanding of the Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe methodology, this article aims at studying spheres as cultural concepts. Throughout history, spheres have allegorically represented divinity (Christian or pagan), and at the same time incorporated a scientific discourse related not only to modernity but also to subalternity and civic awareness. During the Hispanic Enlightenment, artistic discourse utilizing spheres represented Machiavellian moments (J. G. A. Pocock) as a response to an inherited imperial politics and iconography that passed from the Roman emperors to the Habsburgs and beyond. Among pieces considered are the anonymous paintings from the Virgen of Potosi, Fernando VI, rey de España included in the Conclusiones Mathematicas (1758) by Don Fernando de Araya, as well as Aspecto Symbólico del Mundo Hispánico by Vicente de Memije, included in Theses Matemáticas (1761).