Architecture and liturgical elements in some protestant churches of historic tradition

Abstract

Traditionally, Protestant churches in Spain have little presence in the scope of artistic research because the low numerical and stylistic relevance of those buildings if they are compared to their Catholic counterparts. This paper is aimed to try to make a comparative study of architectural spaces and cultic elements between three protestant churches of historical tradition, and one catholic temple, the last one used as an architectural paradigm. To carry it out, two of Protestant temples in the city of Malaga and one from Madrid have been selected. The catholic model is the Holy Martyrs church, from Málaga too.

            From an artistic perspective based on the formal analysis of these temples and the study of the social, political, and religious context of the Reformation movement, an attempt is made to seek a historical, theological, and doctrinal explanation of the possible differences or similarities of the architectural solutions used by the selected denominations. Is precisely for this reason the comparison of the liturgical guidelines is a meaningful key to determine presences, coincidences or absences related to the different rites we can found in the constructive space.

            Likewise, collected data, according to preset parameters, are shown ordered in a comparative table, following an evaluation system based on total, partial or null compliance of the conditions defining liturgical elements and architectural spaces. In addition, they are translated into analytical charts in order to make easy the understanding of the information.