The work represents an auto de fe celebrated in madrid on june 30, 1680, during the reign of charles ii of spain. The car was held in the plaza mayor and lasted a whole day. In the background we see the royal tribune and in it charles ii, his wife maría luisa and his mother. Distinguished people from the court sit on the balconies. On the left, a rich carpet and on it the altar with the green cross, symbolizing the hope of forgiveness of the reconciled, and the banner of the holy office. To the side, the steps of public offices, and the throne of the inquisitor general who is still next to the king's tribune after having taken the oath. In the center of the painting we see two prisoners dressed as in the 15th century, with coroza and sambenitos with flames, the reporters or readers of causes and sentences in the pulpits, and some dominicans with the preacher in the central pulpit. To the right are the steps for the relatives of the inquisition and the prisoners in person or in statue (dead or escaped), which carries an inscription with their crimes and a box with their bones. The prisoners could be penitent (punished with various penalties and by abjuring their errors they became reconciled) or relaxed (sentenced to death by garrote, or by burning at the stake if they were repeat offenders). In the foreground you can see the soldiers of faith and the donkeys that will take those condemned to death to the outskirts of the city to be executed by secular justice. In this group of soldiers in the lower central part of the painting, we find a male figure carrying a large drum widely used in this type of ceremonies. Object Type: painting. Date: 1683. Dimensions: height: 277 cm (109 in); width: 438 cm (14.3 ft). Medium: oil on canvas. Collection: Museo del Prado. Rizi Francisco, Autodafe - Plaza Mayor (Madrid)
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