Reinterpretación visual de la iconografía religiosa, desde una mirada femenina, crítica y subversiva tomando como analogía la acción erótica/caníbal

Abstract

This present graduation project proposes artistic and theoretical research centered on the representation of the female body within the Catholic imaginary, specifically examining the biblical figures of the Virgin Mary and Rahab from a critical, erotic, and contemporary perspective. Drawing from historical, iconographic, and iconological analysis, this research investigates how the Eurocentric religious tradition has constructed discourses that exalt virginity, obedience, suffering, and purity, while simultaneously condemning, marginalizing, or silencing free female sexuality. The project is grounded in the diptych Eucharistic Banquet, in which both figures are reinterpreted through an iconography that emphasizes the erotic, the cannibalistic, and the ritualistic. Here, cannibalism is employed as a visual metaphor for sacrifice, power, and the appropriation of the female body, establishing a parallel between the Eucharist and the systemic violence historically exerted upon women. In this context, the sacred is presented as a space of tension, where desire, faith, and transgression coexist in a conflictive manner. The choice of Mary and Rahab responds to their significance within the biblical narrative and the unequal visibility both have had in the history of religious art. While the Virgin Mary has been represented and glorified as a model of purity, sacrifice, and submission, Rahab has been relegated to a secondary figure, associated with sin, prostitution, and moral punishment. This juxtaposition allows us to evidence the patriarchal hierarchies that have defined which bodies are worthy of veneration and which must be excluded. Drawing from a methodology that integrates theoretical research, visual analysis, and artistic practice, the project engages with several references from contemporary art and psychoanalysis that address the body, violence, the erotic, the cannibalistic, and the sacred. In this manner, the work positions itself as a form of resistance that questions hegemonic discourses and reinterprets the female body as a political, desiring, and autonomous territory. The project thus affirms art as a legitimate space for critical thought and the rewriting of historical and religious narratives from a feminine and decolonial perspective.