La imagen fotográfica del patrimonio monumental declarado en La Rioja hasta 1936. El Fondo Fotográfico del Instituto de Estudios Riojanos

Resumen

The present research deals with the study of the photographic image of the monumental heritage declared in La Rioja until 1936 through the architectural photographs preserved in the digitized Photographic Fund of the Instituto de Estudios Riojanos. Based on the cataloguing of more than two hundred photographic images featuring seven of the ten monuments declared in the province up to 1936 (the church of San Bartolomé in Logroño, monastery of Santa María la Real in Nájera, cathedral of Santa María in Calahorra, cathedral of El Salvador in Santo Domingo de la Calzada, co-cathedral of Santa María de la Redonda in Logroño and monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla, de Suso and de Yuso), and after a previous review through the history of architectural photography in Spain and in La Rioja, an in-depth study of all those aspects that characterize this type of photographs is carried out. Thus, in addition to compiling quantitative information on the representation in the catalogue of the different monuments, the architectural motifs portrayed, the supports used, the dates of capture or the authors of the shots, a comparative analysis is made of both the formal and aesthetic aspects of the catalogued architectural photographs and the uses and intentions that were in their origin and, also, the uses and applications that have been made of them until today. At the same time, it briefly theorizes on the influence that the catalogued shots may have had on the declaration of these Riojan properties as 'monuments' and on the construction of a collective imagery of the region, especially through those photographs that were systematically reproduced in the illustrated postcards published at the time. Finally, it highlights the role of this type of architectural images as documents and sources of the first order for the study of the conservation and restoration of monumental heritage.