Photo, Print, Drawing Effigy of the Fountain of the Artichoke in Market Square in Valencia During the Festival of "Las Fallas," 1931.
About this Item
Title
- Effigy of the Fountain of the Artichoke in Market Square in Valencia During the Festival of "Las Fallas," 1931.
Summary
- This black-and-white photograph is a postcard showing a falla (effigy made for festival) that represents the Fountain of the Artichoke in the Market Square of Valencia in 1931. A deep-rooted tradition in the city of Valencia and other towns in the Valencian Autonomous Community, the Fallas are festivities celebrated each year between March 15 and March 19. The origin of this celebration goes back to an old tradition followed by the carpenters of the city who, on the eve of March 19, the day of their patron saint, Saint Joseph, would burn scrap wood. In 2016 the Fallas were inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List. Today hundreds of allegorical monuments--usually with a satirical take on current affairs--are erected in the city. Traditionally, the effigies consist of a central figure or core composition. They can reach a considerable height (the tallest towers are more than 30 meters) and are surrounded by numerous papier mâché figurines, all erected on a wooden frame. They include signs written in Valencian explaining the meaning of each scene, always in a critical and satirical manner. The Valencian Library holds a vast collection of visual material that includes prints, photographs, posters, postcards, maps, drawings, and other minor printed ephemera, including more than 45,000 postcards dating from 1873 to the present. The use of postcards as a low-cost way of communicating short messages without the need for an envelope was first approved in Vienna on October 1, 1869. Copies of the first French, Austrian, English and Spanish editions are held at the Valencian Library. In Spain, the use of postcards was authorized by the royal ordinance of May 10, 1871. The circulation of privately produced illustrated postcards was authorized in 1886. The images in the collection of the Valencian Library mostly are views of cities, monuments, urban squares, and everyday scenes. Most are printed by collotype.
Created / Published
- [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1931.
Headings
- - Spain--Valencia (Region)--Valencia
- - 1931-03-15 to 1931-03-19
- - Artichokes
- - Celebrations
- - Cherubs (Art)
- - Crowds
- - Effigies
- - Festivals
- - Postcards
Notes
- - Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
- - Original resource extent: 1 photograph (postcard) ; 13.5 x 8.5 centimeters.
- - Original resource at: Valencian Library Nicolau Primitiu.
- - Content in Valencian.
- - Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
Medium
- 1 online resource.
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2021670972
Online Format
- compressed data
- image