Engraving of act XII from the Burgos edition (1499)

Engraving of act XII from the Burgos edition (1499)

Fadrique de Basilea and anonymous engraver.

1499

Double image. Left: Lucrecia and Melibea are in the interior behind a locked door. Right: Calisto is accompanied by Pármeno and Sempronio, who are armed at the door. This illustration is mentioned in Miguel Marciales' critical edition: Celestina Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea, vol. 1, pg. 304., it was used in a loose sheet published by Alonso de Melgar, son-in-law of Fadrique de Basilea, in 1515-19, which is housed at Cambridge University.

The same image but with different names for the characters was used  for the cover of Urrea's Penitencia de amor, printed by Fadrique de Basilea in 1514

For information about the symbolism of the doors in this edition see:

• Montero, Ana Isabel. "A Penetrable Text? Illustration and Trangression in the 1499(?) Edition of Celestina." Word & Image 21.1 (2005): 41-55. online.

The scholar proposes a reading of the engravings of the Burgos CCM that is independent from the text. It focuses specifically on the inherent erotic symbolism in the action of passing through some doors (action represented in the majority of the engravings). These entrances would indicate, contradicting those who have argued that they only served as a dividing frame between two different and consecutive scenes, the meeting point between the interior world (closed-minded, patriarchal, defensive of Melibea's virginity) and the exterior (represented by the procuress and subversion).