ABSTRACT
For a king about to undertake what would prove the definitive military campaign on the Strait of Gibraltar and to mobilise the imagery of chivalry as a cohesive social force after decades of political instability, that was not a minor issue. It should be noted that Iberian kings - and particularly Castilian kings - were not crowned but proclaimed by the highest ranks of the nobility after the death of their predecessors. The renewed emphasis on materiality has forced scholars to deal with works that, like the Santiago del Espaldarazo can hardly be regarded as a 'disembodied image'. Quite to the contrary, this very corporeal figure seems to convey the presence of its saintly referent, even if the attention paid to its very physicality brought about striking revelations when the sculpture was restored in 1993. Be that as it may, the explicit theatricality of the event must have captivated the viewers there gathered.
