The Weight of Symbols: José María Sert and Franco's Spain

The Spanish painter José María Sert (1874-1945), uncle of Harvard professor Josep Lluís Sert, was one of the most renowned artists of his time. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936-37, he aligned himself with Francisco Franco's side and worked intensively on propaganda and major cultural projects of the dictatorship until his death. His political commitment illuminates the importance of symbols, especially those linked to the Catholic religion, in the configuration of national identity and its external projection.

Speaker: Javier Moreno Luzón (Professor of History of Thought and Social and Political Movements at the Complutense University of Madrid)

Sponsor: RCCHU; Complutense University of Madrid