The Chapel of the Virgin of Campanar in Valencia: Popular Tradition Elevated in Erudite Visual Rhetoric

Abstract

This chapel forms part of the parochial church of Campanar, which belongs to the municipality of Valencia. The Virgen de Campanar (Virgin of Campanar) is an image executed in alabaster, discovered on the subfloor of the church of this place on February 19th, 1596, by some construction workers who were undertaking some remodeling at that time. From that moment forward it began to be worshipped by the masses as a miraculous image. Among its alleged properties we find the mysterious fact that powder from its plaster had miraculous effects: it was taken dissolved in water to cure the sick or to assure a healthy birth for pregnant women, and it even calmed storms at sea if it was thrown into the water by those who had set sail. These powders were extracted from the image by means of a ritualistic filing by a priest. Both the circumstances surrounding its discovery, as well as the unique virtues of the powders, constitute the keys to interpreting a complex visual program of an emblematic nature that is pictorially displayed in the vaults of the chapel that houses the image. This study undertakes the analysis and iconographical interpretation of this program.