THE FORGIVENESS GATE OF THE MOSQUE-CATHEDRAL OF CÓRDOBA

Abstract

This research about the main entrance to the mosque-cathedral contributes to give a tipological analysis as an entourage gate as it was conceived under Abd al-Rahman III. The kings and prelades have taken advantage of it as a way for their own propaganda thanks to the link between the gate and the Orange courtyard, seen as the paradise garden, and the mosque-cathedral too. Enrique II and his son Juan I made use of the gate as a theatrical setting to legitimize their power under a mudejar appearance, while the bishop Pedro de Tapia comissioned the proyect of a pictorial altarpiece to exalt the title of the Assumption of Mary and propagate the veneration to St. Rafael, the Guardian of Córdoba. Pedro Salazar put his coat of arms in a visible place in the baroque dome.