Mexican artist Miguel Cabrera (Miguel Mateo Maldonado y Cabrera) painted this famous depiction of esteemed Mexican nun, poet, writer, philosopher, musician, and composer Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana (better known as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz) about 55 years after she passed away at just 43 in 1695 in Mexico City, New Spain. Considered the first feminist of the Americas, sor Juana (Sister Juana) lived as a nun of the Jeronymite order in 17th-century Mexico. Rather than marry, she chose to become a nun so she could pursue her intellectual interests. She corresponded with scientists, theologians, and other literary intellectuals in Mexico and abroad. She wrote poetry and plays that became internationally famous, and also engaged in theological debates. Cabrera positions sor Juana to emphasize her status as an intellectual. He never actually met her, so he mimics earlier portraits, possibly even some self-portraits, as well employing common imagery for St. Jerome or male scholars seated at a desk within a study, surrounded by books and instruments of learning. Sor Juana wears the habit of her religious order, the Jeronymites. She also wears an escudo de monja, or nun’s badge, on her chest, which shows the Annunciation, the moment in which the archangel Gabriel informs Mary that she will bear the son of God. Her left hand holds a rosary, while she turns a page of an open book with her right hand. The book is a text by St. Jerome, the saint after whom her religious order was named. She looks towards us, her gaze direct and assertive, as she sits at a desk, surrounded by her library and instruments of learning including books on philosophy, natural science, theology, mythology, and history. Writing implements rest on the table, a clear allusion to sor Juana’s written works and intellectual pursuits. The rosary, a sign of her religious life, is juxtaposed with items signifying her intellectual status while a red curtain confers upon her a high status.
"Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz" by Miguel Cabrera (Mexican) - Oil on canvas / c. 1750 - Museo Nacional de Historia (Mexico City, Mexico) #WomenInArt #art #artText #artwork #MiguelCabrera #MexicanArtist #PortraitofaWoman #feminist #legendarywomen #MexicanArt #Nun #writer #MNH #NationalMuseumofHistory
