The iconographic program of the old Cathedral of Concepción, mirror of the ideas of a Chilean bishop in the 19th century

Abstract

The Cathedral that the city of Concepción lost in the 1939 earthquake, had a complex iconographic program, mainly contained in the altars and in the paintings in the vault. Although we do not have images that allow us to know in detail each of its characteristics, detailed descriptions of this image system are preserved. A large part of these ornate works of the Cathedral were conceived and carried out during the long government of Bishop José Hipólito Salas. The abundance of texts written and published by Bishop Salas - from which his theological, pastoral and political perspectives can be reconstructed - allows us to inquire about the possible harmony between the Cathedral's iconographic program and its doctrinal and disciplinary conceptions.