1956 Sevilla Fiestas de Primavera poster – Spanish festival poster – Serny

1956 Sevilla Fiestas de Primavera poster – Spanish festival poster – Serny This vintage 1956 Sevilla Fiestas de Primavera poster invites the viewer to visit the Andalusian city for the Spring Festival. The Sevilla Fiestas de Primavera is a two-week celebration of the arrival of spring, and it features a variety of events. The Fiestas de Primavera is a popular tourist destination, and it is a great time to visit Seville. The city is alive with activity during the festival, and there is something for everyone to enjoy. The Fiestas de Primavera begins with Holy Week, which is a religious holiday that commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. During Holy Week, there are several processions through the streets of Seville, in which people carry statues of religious figures. The second week of the Fiestas de Primavera is known as the Feria de Abril or April Fair. The Feria de Abril is a large fair that features a number of casetas, or tents, where people can eat, drink, and dance. The fair also features several flamenco performances and bullfights. This 1956 Sevilla Fiestas de Primavera poster was created by the Andaluscian born artist Ricardo Summers Isern, better known as ‘Serny’. Since the 1940s, Serny created a lot of posters for Madrilenian events such as the Feria Nacional del Libro, the Fiestas de San Isidro, and the Semana Santa. The 1956 Sevilla Fiestas de Primavera poster captures the procession of pasos. The famous parade is organised by some 70 brotherhoods usually made up of Catholic clubs or neighborhood organisations. In Serney’s painting, the parade is led by a group of Hermandades dressed in purple penitential robes with capirotes, and tall, pointed hoods with eye holes. The capirotes were designed so the faithful could repent in anonymity, without being recognised as self-confessed sinners. Usually, the main focus of attention, and adoration, of the event is the pasos or floats with their respective statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary. The statues are often lifelike painted wooden sculptures of individual scenes of the Episode of the Passion of Christ, or the events that happened between Jesus’ entry in Jerusalem and his burial, or images of the Virgin Mary showing restrained grief for the torture and killing of her son. However, dominating front and center of this 1956 Sevilla Fiestas de Primavera poster is a beautiful flamenco dancer. Dressed in a long, white flowing dress complemented with a pericón or Spanish fan and a crimson red shawl that matches the rose in her hair. The demure young lady looks as though she is, quite rightly,  taking her role in the second week’s celebrations very seriously.