Images: Wikimedia Commons (full scene above; see below for additional links)
Clavis number: ECMA 149
Other descriptors: none
Location: Pla de la Seu, s/n 43003 Tarragona
Category: church decoration
Related literature: Acts of Paul and Thecla, Life and Miracles of Thecla, Martyrdom of Thecla by Symeon Metaphrastes, Virtuous Deeds of Thecla
Featured characters and locations: Paul (apostle), Seleucia, Thamyris, Thecla, Theocleia, Tryphaena.
1. DESCRIPTION
1.1 Twelfth-century Altar
Image: Cathedral of Tarragona
Material: white marble
Size: not provided
Description: scenes from the life of Thecla surrounding central image of Christ (or Paul) blessing Thecla. Left portion: top image Thecla at window listens to Paul preaching to crowd (Acts Paul 3:7); Theocleia and other women (on right) point up to Thecla; bottom Thecla accused before governor by her fiancé Thamyris (Acts Paul 3:20), and Thecla brought to flames by executioner with angel coming to her rescue (Acts Paul 3:22). Right portion: Thecla surrounded by tamed beasts with angel looking on (Acts Paul 4:3), Thecla being brought to the home of Queen Tryphaena (Acts Paul 4:4), Thecla in water surrounded by frogs and snakes (Acts Paul 4:9), Thecla on deathbed surrounded by followers and her soul (as a dove) being lifted by angels (no known non-canonical tradition).
Date: created by order of Archbishop Aspàrec around 1220
1.2 Fifteenth-century Altarpiece
Image: Catedral Tarragona
Material: alabaster
Size: not provided
Date: sculpted by Father Johan Vallfogona between 1426 and 1434
Description: centre portion features Mary with Christ child in centre, flanked by statues of Thecla (left) and Paul (right). Lower portion features six scenes from the life of Thecla:
1. Paul preaching to men and women (Acts Paul 3:5–6). Source: Wikimedia.
2. Thecla in flames, flanked by angels (Acts Paul 3:22). Source: Wikimedia.
3. Thecla surrounded by tamed beasts (Acts Paul 4:3). Source: Jacob Lollar; additional source: Viajar con el arte).
4. Thecla in water filled with snakes and seals (Acts Paul 4:9). Source: Wikimedia.
5. Thecla sits praying as men struggle to hold oxen with ropes (Acts Paul 4:10). Source: Wikimedia.
6. Thecla’s arm extending from cave and being received by clergy (as told in a Latin version of the Virtuous Deeds of Thecla). Source: Wikimedia.
1.3 Reliefs in the Chapel of St. Thecla
Images: photographs by Jacob Lollar
Material: not provided
Size: not provided
Date: the chapel was designed and built by Josep Prat y Delorta between 1760 and 1775. The chapel also houses the relic of Thecla’s arm.
1. Thecla learns at the feet of Paul, who is in chains; three women (one is likely Theocleia) look on; angels and a dove occupy the top portion of the image (Acts Paul 3:18).
2. Thecla in flames with soldiers and the governor (?) looking on; angels guide rain clouds to put out the flames (Acts Paul 3:22).
2. RELATION TO APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE
References to the Acts of Paul 3–4 (=Acts of Paul and Thecla) provided above, though note that the artists may be drawing directly on later versions or transformations of the text (e.g., Prodigies of Thecla).
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
“A Sculptured Altar-Piece of the Fifteenth Century.” Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 5.6 (1910): 146–48.
Alsina Alsina, Antònia. “La devoció a Tecla a la Tarragona medieval i La Història de la vida de la protomàrtir santa Tecla, patrona de Tarragona de Josep Valls.” MA thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 2015.
Batle, Josep Amengual. “The Cult of the Female Protomartyr and Apostle Saint Thecla, in Hispania.” Pages 240–82 in Thecla: Paul’s Disciple and Saint in the East and West. Edited by Jeremy W. Barrier, Jan N. Bremmer, Tobias Nicklas, and Armand Puig i Tàrrech. Studies in Early Christian Apocrypha. Leuven: Peeters: 2016.
Amo Guinocart, Maria Dolores del. “La Beata Tecla y el origen del culto a Santa Tecla en Tarragona.” Bulleti Arqueològic 29 (2007):
69–79.
Canals, Santiago Olives. “La iconografía tarraconense de Santa Tecla y sus fuentes literarias.” Bulleti Arqueològic 37–40 (1952): 113–36.
Goshgarian, Rachel. “The Arm of St. Thecla between Armenia and Aragon: Bodilessness, Placelessness, Diplomacy, and the Reliquary Trade.” Pages 129–46 in Sacred Spaces and Urban Networks. Edited by Suzan Yalman and A. Hilal Ugurlu. Istanbul: Koc University Press, 2021.
Janke, R. Steven. “The Retable of Don Dalmau de Mur y Cervelló from the Archbishop’s Palace at Saragossa: A Documented Work by Francí Gomar and Tomás Giner.” Journal of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 18 (1984): 65–83.
M. Pérez Martínez, Sancta Virgo. “Thecla. The Origins of the Cult of Thecla in Tarragona.” Pages 304–26 in Thecla: Paul’s Disciple and Saint in the East and West. Edited by Jeremy W. Barrier, Jan N. Bremmer, Tobias Nicklas, and Armand Puig i Tàrrech. Studies in Early Christian Apocrypha. Leuven: Peeters: 2016.
Nauerth, Claudia, and Rüdiger Warns. Thekla: Ihre Bilder in der Frühchristlichen Kunst. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1981 (pp. 85–92, fig. 31).
Ramon i Vinyes, Salvador, and Joan Farré i Roig. Catedral de Tarragona. El Retaule de l’Altar Major. Tarragona: Associació i Collegi d’Enginyers Industrials de Catalunya, 1988.
Vicens, Francesc. Catedral de Tarragona. Barcelona: A. et G. de May, 1970.
4. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Catedral Tarragona.
“The Cathedral of Tarragona.” Itinere Turisme & Cultura.
“El retablo mayor de la Catedral de Tarragona.” Viajar con el arte. Posted 21 January 2019 (includes high quality images).
“Pere Johan en la Catedral de Tarragona.” Palios. Posted 4 October 2017 (includes high quality images).
“St. Thecla.” Once I Was A Clever Boy. Posted 23 September 2015.
“Tarragona Cathedral.” Wikipedia.
Entry created by Tony Burke (York University) with help from Jacob A. Lollar (University of Regensburg), 18 December 2023.