Mother Jerónima was a resolved and energetic woman born to a wealthy family in Toledo. At the age of fifteen, she entered the local convent of the Order of Saint Claire. Her fame reached the court, where she was consulted by Queen Margarita de Austria. This portrait was made when she was sixty-five years old. Shortly thereafter, she sailed from Seville to Manila, where she founded the first convent. She died there in 1630.

In keeping with the naturalist canons of Caravaggio, this portrait is striking for the physical and spiritual presence of the model, who had a special devotion to the Crucifixion. The inscription at the bottom was made later, and the ribbon was veiled, as it was considered apocryphal.