Lecture Series

75th anniversary of the making of Nuestro Padre Jesús en su Santo Sepulcro

Background

Last March, our Cofradía del Santo Sepulcro y Nuestra Señora de los Dolores joyfully celebrated the beginning of the 75th anniversary of Domingo Sánchez Mesa's carving of the Recumbent Christ. This marked the revival of Motril's Holy Week after the Spanish Civil War and the return of penitential processions.

To mark this important anniversary, our brotherhood is organizing three formation sessions on popular religiosity, art and history.

We therefore invite you to these talks, which connect the different facets of our brotherhood and of the other brotherhoods in our city. Together, we will explore our evangelizing role, the contribution of Holy Burial brotherhoods to art history and our place in Motril's historical and artistic context.

Speakers

Professionals and leading voices in popular religiosity, art and history

Rdo. D. José Gabriel Martín Rodríguez

Episcopal delegate for brotherhoods in Granada

José Gabriel is currently the diocesan delegate for brotherhoods and confraternities. He is closely connected to Granada's Holy Week, serving as chaplain to the royal federation and to several processional organizations.

He was also a pioneer in the diocesan development of healthcare ministry.

His pastoral life began in our city, where he was ordained a priest while serving as a deacon in the parish of Divina Pastora.

D. Domingo López Fernández

Historian and journalist from Motril

Domingo is a tireless researcher from Motril whose work has helped highlight the lost heritage of our city.

Through his journalistic work at the newspaper El Faro, he reports impartially on the different events taking place in our city.

Dr. David Martín López

Professor of History at the University of Granada

David Martín López is a professor in the Department of Art History at the University of Granada, where he is known for his extensive studies on cataloguing as a tool for protecting artistic heritage.

Since childhood, he has been connected to the Solemnity of Corpus Christi in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and to the celebrations held around it.

Lectures

Brotherhoods and confraternities: forming ourselves in evangelization

This talk will explore the Pastoral Letter on popular piety issued by the bishops of southern Spain in June 2023, which highlights the importance of popular religiosity in Christian life.

Our speaker will reflect on the importance of turning devotion to our sacred images into a school of Christian commitment and a seed of evangelization in today's society.

The Brotherhood of Charity of the Holy Sepulchre of Motril and its 1816 statutes

This lecture will reveal previously unpublished information about the foundation of our organization. It will present research documenting the existence of a Holy Burial organization at the beginning of the 19th century, including its 1816 statutes.

It will also examine the most important events in our brotherhood's history from that point onward.

The Holy Burial and its artistic representation throughout history

Holy Burial brotherhoods are a cornerstone of Spanish religious life, as depictions of the Passion of Our Lord are among the most common forms of religious art.

This is because the ceremony of the Descent from the Cross lies at the origin of today's processional displays, recalling the earliest celebration of the Redeemer's Easter.

We will explore the artistic importance of depicting Christ's body resting on the cold stone of the Sepulchre as a high point of Spanish religious imagery, from Jacopo Florentino's striking sculptural group and Gregorio Fernández's majestic carvings to the modern works of Sánchez-Mesa and Prados López.

The speaker will also explain the symbols and signs connected to this iconography.

Location

José Hernández Quero Art Centre

Palacio Ruiz de Castro

The José Hernández Quero Art Centre, housed in the Palacio Ruíz de Castro in Motril, is one of the city's key initiatives to preserve local cultural heritage and share the work of one of Granada's most prominent artists of the second half of the 20th century.

Website Calle Ruiz, 2 - 18600 Motril, Granada

Acknowledgements

Culture Department of Motril City Council

Motril City Council