The photograph of Pío IX. A visual history otuline of the contemporary papacy

Abstract

The article deals with the study from an aesthetic perspective of one of the founding moments of the contemporary papacy. The photograph of Pius IX, the first pope to make use of technical image reproduction instruments, gives rise to proposing a new way of delving into the study of religion in today's society. In methodological terms, the article offers a link between the perspective developed around Visual Studies and the most recent studies from the Sociology of Religion. From this last perspective, the interpretation is proposed according to which the current religious institutions are the product of modernity and the cultural, economic, social and technical conditions that it imposes. In this sense, the contemporary papacy is no stranger to these conditions, of which the hyperinflation of the image is one of its most important characteristics. In conclusion, the article proposes that the survival of the papacy in contemporary times, its definition as a fully modern institution from this aesthetic perspective, is largely due to the use of technical means of image reproduction.