The Idol of Cádiz

The Idol of Cádiz was a pre-Islamic monument, crowned by a statue, and located on the outskirts of Cádiz, the ancient Gades. This article adopts a longue-durée approach to literary accounts, exploring how and why perceptions of this vestige of Antiquity changed over the centuries: how it adopted new values and functions, encompassed new spheres of influence, and even underwent physical change. Far from being neglected, perceptions of the Idol changed according to the political, cultural and religious transformations occurring in al-Andalus over the centuries. This article analyses the process of reception or Iconotropy of the Idol as an intertwined production of meaning and memory spanning fields of knowledge, belief systems and political regimes, pointing out how the sacred is dynamically constructed, and how it is susceptible to changing circumstances

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Epistemology · Humanities · Islam · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Statue · Hispanic-African Historical Relations · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Historical Studies of Medieval Iberia · History · Law · Philosophy