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Book of notarial protocols with the drawn pantocrator

Date
1311 - 1312
Archive
Municipal Archive of Moià
Document type
Textual
Reference code
AMMoià. Manual 19, foli 68 v
Link to the online document
Description

Between 1311 and 1312, a notary from Moià began to record his protocols in a volume that is preserved today as a witness of local legal practice. But this book is much more than a notarial record: on its back cover there is a freehand drawing of a pantocrator, an image of Christ in majesty that is probably the only preserved representation of the original Romanesque altarpiece of the church, destroyed in the Baroque period. This fusion between law and sacred art turns the document into a unique piece, which reflects the coexistence between legal writing and religious iconography in daily medieval life. The book tells us about the importance of the notary in social and economic organization, but also about the persistence of Romanesque art as an expression of faith and identity. It is a living testimony of inner Catalonia and its connection with European visual and legal culture.