Les Al·legories musicals en l'edició impresa de la Màscara reial: nous models iconogràfics en els gravats catalans de la segona meitat del segle XVIII

Abstract

What would come to be considered one of the foremost landmarks in the history of Catalan engraving was published in Barcelona in 1764: the editio princeps of the Màscara Reial (Royal Masque). A gift for the Bourbon king Charles III on the occasion of his arrival in Barcelona from Naples in 1759, the album comprises 26 sheets and includes engravings and texts. The preparatory drawings were by the Catalan engraver Francesc Tramulles (1722-1773), the prints were engraved by A. J. Defehrt (1723-1774) and the tail-pieces and initials were the work of the Valencian engraver Pere Pasqual Moles (1741-1797). One of this albums most interesting aspects, however, is its iconographic programmes, which are idealised representations in which music and classical mythology play a prominent role. The ephemeral festival is represented for the first time as an allegorical feast. This is a new iconographic model that would serve as a source for subsequent works. It follows the French models of the times and seeks to describe certain historical events with the aim to commemorate and mythologise them. This paper describes and explains these iconographic programmes in which music is used to accompany the retinue formed by mythological divinities and carnivalesque characters. These figures include, for example, Apollo and his lyre, and the representation of the nine muses, which are musical allegories used to highlight specific exalted aspects of the monarchy and which became iconographic models for later works.