On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P02873
- Author
- Velazquez, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y (Spanish)
- Title
- The Venerable Mother Jerónima de la Fuente
- Chronology
- Ca. 1620
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 160 cm x 110 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- No
- Entrance
- COMPRA
- Procedence
- Acquisition, 1944
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.
