'Auto de Sancta Bárbara' : a herança e os arranjos

Resumo

The aim of this article is to present some material with a view to a more elaborate analysis of Auto de Santa  Bárbara by Afonso Alvares. It points out the relative importance of the playright in the context of the Portuguese theatre after Gil Vicente. It also enhances the way  the play right dramatizes a religious theme dear to the best literary and iconographic traditions. It focus particularly on problems related to the techniq1ws and details of character construction. These characters are compared to and contrasted with others the author of this article came across  in texts such as  Legenda Aurea by Jacobo  de Voragine and  the contemporary Flos Sanctorum. Characters are analysed taking into account the way Gil Vicente has also dealt with them.