Estudi iconografie de l’església de Sant Joan Baptista d’Orta (Tarragona)

Abstract

The main chapel of the parish church at Orta (Tarragona) which was built during the 15th and 16th centuries, is situated between the central butresses on the Epistle wing, under a crossing vault whose ribbings rest upon four supporting hanging brackets. The keystone is carved with a momogram of Jesus' name; whilst each of the four bracket outlines a polyedral modillion held by their corresponding Atlases: One of the interior ones is an eagle that supports a diamond shaped shield emblazoned with the cross of Malta; the other one represents a naked man knelt in the attittude of prayer. Those at the entrance feature two dressed busts of men respectively holding Aragonese shields illustrating a fruitful, uprooted fig tree and an eight-sided breast plate.
Despite the meagre decoration, the iconologic-iconographic study reveals a symbolic design of an extraordinary richness. The monogram presents evidence of Christophic, soteriologic and solar hipertrophics, which aids in the interpretation of the hanging brackets. Therefore, the two interior ones represent literally the passages from the medieval Physiologus and Bestiaries in which the characteristics of the eagle and the derived moral lessons are explained. From this point, the two hanging brackets at the entrance take on the significance of the renewing power of Baptism: of the new man who —according to the Apocalypse— becomes One with the Spirit.
Thus, without any objective written evidence on the contrary, it is possible to claim that the chapel was originally the baptistery of the church. This church, it would seem, despite having been neglected by the scientific community, is one of the most notable examples of the sacred buildings of the Gothic-Catalan style in the Terres de I'Ebre.