Artwork
Santa Teresa de Jesús
Santa Teresa de Jesús is an oil painting. It dates from 1601 and is held in the collection of the Museo del Prado. The oil painting depicts a seated woman in a white habit and black head covering, positioned at a desk.
About this work
Technique & Style
As an anonymous creation from the early 17th century, the piece depicts the saint alongside specific attributes including a book, a seat, a pen, and an inkwell.
Created in 1601, Santa Teresa de Jesús is an oil painting executed on a canvas support. The work measures 104 cm in height and 83 cm in width. As an anonymous creation from the early 17th century, the piece depicts the saint alongside specific attributes including a book, a seat, a pen, and an inkwell.
The composition also features another painting within the scene, suggesting a complex interior arrangement. The medium of oil paint allows for the detailed rendering of these objects and the figure of the saint, characteristic of the devotional portraiture of the period.
History & Provenance
The painting Santa Teresa de Jesús was created in 1601 as an oil on canvas work. It is attributed to an anonymous artist. The work is currently held by the Museo del Prado in Madrid, having previously been part of the collection of the Museo de la Trinidad.
The dimensions of the canvas are recorded as 104 cm in height and 83 cm in width. The painting depicts the saint accompanied by objects such as a book, seat, pen, and inkwell.
Context
Critical reception of the work remains sparse, with no contemporary commentary identified in available records. Scholarly attention focuses on its placement within the broader corpus of early 17th-century Spanish religious painting, where it is examined alongside other anonymous devotional works for stylistic and iconographic parallels. The painting’s inclusion in the Museo del Prado’s collection situates it within institutional efforts to document anonymous contributions to Counter-Reformation visual culture.
Its dimensions of 104 cm by 83 cm underscore the scale typical of devotional panels from this period, reinforcing its role in contextualizing anonymous authorship within the artistic milieu of the time.
Overview
The oil painting depicts a seated woman in a white habit and black head covering, positioned at a desk. She looks upward, holding a feather pen in one hand and an open book in the other. A dove hovers above her near a luminous source, while a dark sky forms the background, emphasizing the contrast of light and shadow.
Subject & Meaning
The figure is identified as Santa Teresa de Jesús, a prominent mystic and writer. The open book and pen suggest her role as a spiritual author, while the dove and glowing light allude to divine inspiration and the Holy Spirit guiding her contemplative work.
Artist & collection
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Santa Teresa de Jesús
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Saint Clare Driving Away the Infidels with the Eucharist
En helgeninde, udklædt som nonne i hvid dragt med sort slør, holdende monstransen i den højre hånd
En helgeninde, udklædt som nonne i hvid dragt med sort slør, holdende monstransen i den højre hånd
Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582)
