From Courtesan to Saint: Embodied Female Space in Juan Correa’s The Conversion of Saint Mary Magdalene

17 Pages·07.813 MB·English

by  Juan Luis Burke

From Courtesan to Saint:
Embodied Female Space in Juan Correa’s The Conversion of St. Mary Magdalene
JUAN LUIS BURKE
The painting by viceregal Mexican artist Juan Correa First I will discuss the painting’s context, the novohis-
(1646–1716) titled The Conversion of St. Mary Magda- panic seventeenth century, and the significant factors in-
lene has an episodic composition. The painting, carried forming Correa’s work. Next comes a brief survey of the
out in late seventeenth-century New Spain, portrays the artist’s life and work, moving on to an analysis of the
saint’stransformationfromrepentantsinnertohermitin painting,touchinguponeachofitsepisodes,andconclud-
the wilderness, two of the most popular iconographical ingwithadiscussiononitsoperativeepisodicnature and
roles the feminine saint assumed during the mannerist how this characteristic reveals the most innovative aspect
and baroque eras on both sides of the Atlantic. I expand of Correa’s painting.
on previous scholarship on Correa’s work that suggested
its employment in a casa de recogimiento, a shelter for THE LONG NOVOHISPANIC SEVENTEENTH
women who sought to renounce prostitution.1 I argue CENTURY
that the garden’s representation in Correa’s painting, WithinMexico’sviceregalperiod,theseventeenthcentury
whichAnaLauraTorresHern´andezinterpretsasasymbol is a pivotal moment in New Spain’s definition of its
of New Spain’s supposed Edenic qualities that aimed at sociopolitical and cultural milieu. This era saw a range
highlighting criollo pride, should be read, instead, as an of interlocking and sometimes contradictory develop-
interpretationofalocusamoenusinthecontextoffemale ments that reveal New Spain’s responses to regional, cul-
monasticism; that is, a spatial metaphor of spiritual love tural, and political identities in the making. A wealthy
sought by female worshippers through a regimen of criollo elite, the descendants of Spaniards born in New
prayer. In this context, the garden is a part of a mental Spain, consolidated their place in novohispanic society,
andspiritualitinerarydirectedbythepictorialnarrativein albeit under the restraint of the peninsulares (Spaniards),
Correa’s painting. who barred them from occupying the most important
Additionally, I believe that the episodic nature of civil and religious positions in the viceroyalty. Addition-
Correa’s composition borrowed certain principles devel- ally,inthenorthernrealmsofNewSpain,themissionary
oped bythe Jesuitpropaedeutic (preparatory instruction) and colonizing efforts were ongoing, while the viceroy-
of reformatio or spiritual conversion. This instructional alty’s central regions saw wealthy cities like Mexico City
system can be seen in the Adnotationes et meditationes in or Puebla consolidate sophisticated urban cultures that
evangelia (Annotations and Meditations on the Gospels) were shaped after the models imported from the metro-
from 1595, prepared by Jero´nimo Nadal at the request of pole,Madrid.Thiserasawtheemergenceof“republicsof
IgnatiusofLoyola.Itutilizedthenotionofinventio,aper- letters,” mostly made up of criollos and peninsulares, usu-
ally educated clerics and bureaucrats who occupied uni-
sonal sentimental and meditative itinerary prompted by
versity lecturer and public service positions, who were
vivid images and text, to construct tropes of contempla-
diocese priests or owners of printing offices.2 This was
tive prayer in order to reach reformatio or spiritual
the social class that, as Antonio Rubial Garc´ıa has
conversion.
declared, “became the main diffusers of symbolic identity
1. AnaLauraTorresHerna´ndez,“Pecado,recogimientoyconversio´n. 2. Forawonderfulstudyontheemergenceoftherepublicoflettersin
Unproyectocontralaprostitucio´nfemeninaenlaciudaddeMe´xicodel viceregalMexicoCity,seeStephanieMerrim,TheSpectacularCity,Mexico,
siglo XVII,” Bolet´ın de monumentos histo´ricos – tercera ´epoca, no. 29 andColonialHispanicLiteraryCulture(Austin:UniversityofTexasPress,
(December2013):52–71. 2010).
Latin Americanand LatinxVisualCulture, Vol.3, Number2, pp. 29–45. ElectronicISSN: 2576-0947. © 2021 byThe Regentsofthe Universityof
California.Allrightsreserved.PleasedirectallrequestsforpermissiontophotocopyorreproducearticlecontentthroughtheUniversityofCaliforniaPress’s
ReprintsandPermissionswebpage,https://www.ucpress.edu/journals/reprints-permissions.DOI:https://doi.org/10.1525/lavc.2021.3.2.29.
29
networks.”3 The period represented, in short, the consol- people of differing backgrounds and ethnicities, from
idationofanovohispanointellectualandculturalidentity. merchantsandnunstostreetvendorsandrichhacendados
Citing Rubial again, this was the era of “New Spain’s (ranch owners). The city Correa knew was a veritable
inclusion in hispanidad and Catholicity,”4 a condition metropolis that enjoyed a vibrant cultural life.
corroborated, for instance, by the poetess-nun Sor Juana Incidentally,Correamightbethemostresearchedvice-
In´es de la Cruz’s literary popularity in Spain, or the Pue- regal New Spanish painter to date, as his figure was sub-
bla priest Alejandro Fabi´an’s epistolary exchanges with jecttoscrutinousresearchduringthe1990sbyagroupof
Athanasius Kircher.5 scholars led by UNAM professor Elisa Vargaslugo. She
However, despite these samples of cosmopolitanism, and her team assembled a comprehensive catalog of his
literary discourses surrounding urban and regional iden- work and that of his workshop, presenting along the way
tities also flourished.6 Often, the authors of these literary a body of seminal documents about Correa’s life.10 One
products—chronicles,loas(theatricalplays),poetry,other aspectVargaslugoemphasizedaboutCorrea’spersonallife
literary pieces—were criollos, who, paradoxically and as washisethnicity.BeingthesonofaSpaniardandafreed
Jos´e Joaqu´ınBlanco hasnoted, often aspiredtobe“more Black slave made Correa a mulato, a racial category em-
Spanish than the Castilians or the Extremadurans, more ployed in New Spain to designate mixed European and
medieval, more orthodox” than Spaniards themselves. African descent. Correa’s mixed ethnicity is relevant,
Theywantedtobe“morepunctiliousinmattersofhonor, given that social hierarchy and mobility in New Spain
caste, fame, [and] family name,” something that became were significantly determined by an individual’s “purity
evident in the visual and artistic culture of the time, of blood.”11 This was the term employed to define a per-
which, consequently and perhaps expectedly, was charac- son’s ability to prove their family’s long generational
terized by a rigid Catholic orthodoxy expressed in its Spanish and Christian condition and, therefore, lack of
iconographic language.7 Jewish, Muslim, Indigenous, or African heritage. In that
regard,Correa’ssurprisingsuccessasamulatopainterand
theeffecthisracialbackgroundmayhavehadonhiswork
THE LIFE AND WORK OF JUAN CORREA
JuanCorreawasbornin1646 andlivedhis entirelifein requires further exploration.12
Artistically speaking, Correa’s work was influenced by
Mexico City.8 The son of a Spanish doctor and a freed
the Escuela sevillana (Seville School), as with virtually all
Black woman, Correa was one of the most prolific artists
remarkable painters of the latter part of the seventeenth
of the Mexican viceregal period and ran an extremely
centuryinNew Spain.Further,thiserasawthearrivalof
prolificworkshop.9DuringCorrea’slifetime,MexicoCity
artistSebasti´anLo´pezdeArteagatotheviceroyalty,adis-
was a thriving and diverse urban center, inhabited by
cipleofFranciscodeZurbar´an,theSpanishmasterknown
3. Original: “...se erigieron en los principales difusores de las redes forhischiaroscuroandnaturalismeffects,traitsthatwere
simbo´licasidentitarias.”AntonioRubialGarc´ıa,Elpara´ısodeloselegidos: soon adopted by New Spanish painters.13 In this context
una lectura de la historia cultural de Nueva Espan˜a (1521–1804), 1st ed.
of artistic effervescence, Correa’s and other artists’ work,
(MexicoCity:FondodeCulturaEcono´mica[FCE],UniversidadNacional
Auto´nomadeMe´xico[UNAM],2010),212.Alltranslationsbytheauthor. according to Ruiz Gomar, stood out for traits such as his
4. “lapertenenciadeNuevaEspan˜aalahispanidadyalacatolicidad.” “consistency in the composition of bodies and forms...
RubialGarc´ıa,Elpara´ısodeloselegidos,213.
5. Elias Trabulse, “El tra´nsito del hermetismo a la ciencia moderna: vigor in the characterization of faces, by the effectual
AlejandroFabi´an,sorJuanaIne´sdelaCruzyCarlosdeSigu¨enzayGo´ngora
(1667–1690),”Cal´ıope:JournaloftheSocietyforRenaissanceandBaroque 10. ElisaVargaslugoetal.,JuanCorrea.Suvidaysuobra(MexicoCity:
HispanicPoetry4,no.1–2 (1998):56–69. UNAM,1994).
6. RubialGarc´ıa,Elpara´ısodeloselegidos,213. 11. On the subject of limpieza de sangre (purity of blood), see, for
7. ”ma´s puntillosos en asuntos de honra, casta, fama, nombre.” Jose´ instance,Mar´ıaElenaMart´ınez,GenealogicalFictions:LimpiezadeSangre,
Joaqu´ın Blanco, Esplendores y miserias de los criollos. La literatura de la Religion, and Gender in Colonial Mexico (Stanford, CA: Stanford Uni-
NuevaEspan˜a,vol.2 (MexicoCity:CalyArena,1989),15. versityPress,2008).
8. Mar´ıaElisaVel´azquezGutie´rrez,JuanCorrea:“mulatolibre,maestro 12. Elisa Vargaslugo, Juan Correa. Su viday su obra, vol. 1 (Mexico
depintor”(MexicoCity:CONACULTA,1998),12. City:UNAM–InstitutodeInvestigacionesEst´eticas, 2017),15–67.
9. RogelioRuizGomar,“UniqueExpressions:PaintinginNewSpain,” 13. RogelioRuizGomar,“LapinturaenlaNueva Espan˜adurante la
in Painting a New World: Mexican Art and Life. 1521–1821, ed. Donna segunda mitad del siglo XVII,” in Elarte entiempos de Juan Correa, ed.
Pierce, Rogelio Ruiz Gomar, and Clara Bargellini (Denver: Denver Art Mar´ıa del Consuelo Maqu´ıvar (Mexico City: CONACULTA-INAH,
Museum;Austin:UniversityofTexasPress,2004),66. 1994),93–94.
30 LATIN AMERICAN AND LATINX VISUAL CULTURE
handlingoflight,”and“naturalisticrepresentationoffab- ImmaculateConception,theCatholicsacraments,aswell
ricsanddraperies.”14RuizGomar’sgeneralizationsregard- as a panoply of other subjects in the Catholic universe.19
ingCorrea’s workalign withothercurrents coming from
Madrid, such as the employment of vibrant colors,
MARY MAGDALENE, FROM COURTESAN
Rubens’s pictorial compositions, and visual dynamism,
TO SAINT
which complemented the chiaroscuro and naturalism
Little is known of Juan Correa’s The Conversion of St.
trends introduced by the Escuela sevillana.
MaryMagdalene:notitsexactdateofproduction,northe
Conversely, local Mexican artistic traits, which are
patron. Today, it forms part of the Museo Nacional de
more difficult to calibrate because they were slight mod-
Arte’s collection in Mexico City, one painting among an
ifications and variations from the European canons
ampleoutputofreligiousartproducedbyCorreaandhis
regarding iconography and stylistic choices vis-`a-vis their
workshop. What is certain is that its existence is due to
European counterparts, helped define the visual language
the female saint’s popularity throughout the Hispanic
of the period. In the end, all of these strands merged to
world at the time. Indeed, Mary Magdalene’s conversion
definethepictorialoutputofartistssuchasCorrea,Cris-
had been a popular European and Hispanic artistic sub-
to´bal de Villalpando, or the brothers Nicol´as and Juan
jectsincethelatemedievalera,acquiringrenewedvitality
Rodr´ıguez Ju´arez, some of the most notable artists from
inthepost-Tridentine(aftertheCouncilofTrent)world,
the late seventeenth-century novohispanic artistic
due to the evangelizing possibilities surrounding Magda-
sphere.15
lene’snarrative,basedonthephenomenologicalthemesof
In general, the output by Correa’s workshop was het-
repentance, conversion, and piousness.
erogeneous, with pieces of differing qualities that em-
It is relevant, however, to remember her character’s
ployed models from both New Spain and abroad, such
obscureorigin.IntheWesterntradition,MaryMagdalene
asworkbyRubens.16Moreover,theworkwasofamarked
asaliteraryfigureistheresultingfusionofseveralbiblical
iconographic orthodoxy, as the Council of Trent of
characters: Mary Magdalene, who witnessed Jesus’s cruci-
1545–63 and the Mexican Church Council of 1585 dic-
fixion and resurrection; Mary of Bethany, the sister of
tated iconographic practices in the viceroyalty. In effect,
resuscitated Lazarus; and Mary Magdalene, the repentant
the iconographical language of the Counter Reformation sinner who anointed Christ’s feet, as told in Luke 7:47.
took a firm hold in the artistic Hispanic world.17 This
Furthermore,thankstothenarrativepropagatedbyPope
condition, coupled with a scarcity of patrons outside the GregorytheGreat,whopronouncedin591 CEthatMary
Church, the lack of a viceregal court, and the view that of Bethany and the woman who anointed Christ’s feet
painting was a craft more than an intellectual profession, were one and the same person, Magdalene came to be
meant that a great deal of visual artwork during this identified as a courtesan or prostitute.20
periodwasconcernedwithCatholicorthodoxy.18Specific Given the varied characters that Magdalene could
subjects and topics were reiterative in seventeenth- embody, she became a central female figure in the Cath-
´
centuryMexicanviceregalart,suchasSt.TeresaofAvila, olictradition,secondonlytotheVirginMary.21Notonly
St.RosaofLima,St.IgnatiusLoyola,St.MaryMagdalene, wassheintimatelyassociatedwithJesus’slifeandhispiety
or Marian devotions like the Virgin of Guadalupe, the toward repentant sinners, but also, given Magdalene’s
ability to represent an array of feminine sensibilities and
14. Originalphrases: “laconsistenciaenlaconstruccio´ndeloscuerpos affections, her figure became a vanitas, a model that con-
y de las figuras [...] el br´ıo en la caracterizacio´n de los rostros, por el
veyedthetransience andfutilityoflife,incontrasttothe
manejoefectistadelaluz,”“elacabadom´asnaturalenlarepresentacio´nde
lastelasylosdrapeados.”RuizGomar,“LapinturaenlaNuevaEspan˜a,”93. idealized—and therefore mundanely distant—figure of
15. RogelioRuizGomar,“NuevaEspan˜a:enbu´squedadeunaidenti-
dadpicto´rica,”inPinturadelosreinos:identidadescompartidas.Territorios
delmundohispa´nico,siglosXVI-XVIII,ed.JuanaGutie´rrezHaces(Mexico 19. Victoria,“Laiconograf´ıa,”131–32.
City:FomentoCulturalBanamex,2008),543–641. 20. Jane Schaberg, The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene: Legends,
16. RuizGomar,“NuevaEspan˜a,”621. Apocrypha,andtheChristianTestament(NewYork:Continuum,2002),
17. Jose´GuadalupeVictoria,“Laiconograf´ıadelartedelsigloXVII,”in 82.
El arte en tiempos de Juan Correa, ed. Mar´ıa del Consuelo Maqu´ıvar 21. MichelleErhardtandAmyMorris,introductiontoMaryMagda-
(MexicoCity:CONACULTA-INAH,1994),130–39. lene:IconographicStudiesfromtheMiddleAgestotheBaroque(Leiden:Brill,
18. RuizGomar,“UniqueExpressions,”47–49. 2012),1.
FromCourtesantoSaint 31
the Virgin Mary.22 Magdalene, the repentant sinner, en- Magdalene became more restrained, the product of a re-
joyed an unmatched popularity during the sixteenth and affirmed orthodoxy that revised the decorum of religious
seventeenth centuries. In effect, she embodied the possi- pictorial representations at the outset of the third session
bilities of renewal in the face of hardships and the indul- of the Council of Trent (1563), and the eventual appear-
gence of carnal sin. But also her figure came to represent ance of influential texts such as Federico Borromeo’s De
the resilience of women who endured a social condition pictura sacra (1624), which corroborated and enforced
that was mostly unforgiving of their faults and whose propriety.25
actions were under constant scrutiny. Magdalene repre- Theseventeenthcenturyalsomarkedanewchapterin
sented the sublimation of the female condition in its Magdalene’s artistic representation: her repentance and
fortitude and its self-reflective and affective roles, while eventual conversion into a pious Christian. Artemisia
conversely suggesting or pointing at traits and conditions Gentileschi’s famed The Conversion of Mary Magdalene,
scorned by the patriarchy, such as promiscuity, adultery, (c. 1620, Uffizi Galleries collection), epitomizes both the
and prostitution. Therefore, Magdalene came to epito- caution in the handling of Magdalene’s prudent appear-
mizeadynamicandvariedarrayofemblematiccharacters: ance—as she is painted fully clothed save for her naked
the witness to Christ’s crucifixion, the woman who bears shoulders,onlyatraceofherbosomshowing—andamore
witness—beforeanyofhismaleassociates—toJesus’sres- dramatic, mannerist handling of the body and the emo-
urrection,therepentantprostitutewhoevolvesintoaloyal tions evoked by the subject, which had the objective of
anddevoutChristian,orthemysticthatchoosestoretire promptingtheviewerintoareflectiononthesaint’semo-
intothedeserttoleadanasceticlife.Inshort,Magdalene tionalinnerturmoil.Asavariantoftherepentantsinner,
is the guardian and proud representative of female affec- Magdalene’s representation in the grotto, in her role as
tions,resilience,honorability,andpiety,becomingamodel a mystic retreating to the desert, also acquired popularity
for Christian women taking a path toward personal in the seventeenth century.
improvement, seeking a dignified existence in the face In the Hispanic world, specifically in Spanish art, re-
of hardship, and longing for spiritual sublimation and presentations of Magdalene demonstrate the saint’s spir-
redemption. itual drama and are often more cautious about the
Given the various iconographic roles and rhetorical sexualization of Magdalene’s body. An example of this
possibilities,Magdalene’s depictions becamea widespread restrained manner of representing Magdalene is El Gre-
and pervasive topic in early modern religious art. The co’s (1541–1614) personification of a blonde Magdalene
repentant and weeping Magdalene thus developed into in her grotto, impeccably and prudently dressed. Magda-
a popular artistic trope for early modern artists, painters, lene appears with a skull and an oil flask at hand (fig. 1).
sculptors, and writers alike.23 In the field of painting, A few decades later, Jose´ de Ribera’s repentant Mag-
during the sixteenth century, representations of Magda- dalene in the grotto, from 1641, still shows restraint and
lene’s figure came to be characterized by her partial prudence in its depiction of Magdalene’s body, wherein
nudity,therebysexualizing Magdalene’s body.Such isthe the saint is represented as a young and beautiful woman,
case ofTitian’s famous representation ofthe female saint impeccably dressed anddignified, inan attitude ofprayer
from 1531, now part of the Uffizi Galleries collection. and retreat at the entrance of a grotto. These visual con-
Magdalene’s bareness thus became part of the rhetorical ventions would, by extension, influence the representa-
repertoireavailabletoexploitherfigure:hernudityrepre- tions of Mary Magdalene in New Spain. In effect,
sented,allatonce,herrepudiationofvanity,herregained Baltasar Echave Ib´ıa’s Penitent Magdalene (c. 1605, Mu-
chasteness, but also her sinful past. Put differently, Mag- seoNacionaldeArte),whichportraysherwithasorrowful
dalene’ssymbolic nudity inevitably resultedin the confir- expression as she holds on to a crucifix, a flask of oil
mation of her feminine and sexualized nature.24 During nearby, one breast visible while the other is obstructed
the seventeenth century, however, depictions of fromviewbythesaint’srobe,canbesaidtobelongtothat
tradition (fig. 2).
22. MaryHaskins,MaryMagdalen:MythandMetaphor(NewYork:
RiverheadBooks,1993),224.
23. Haskins,MaryMagdalen,16.
24. Haskins,227. 25. Haskins,252.
32 LATIN AMERICAN AND LATINX VISUAL CULTURE
THE REPENTANT SINNER
As previously argued, in seventeenth-century Mexico,
artistic depictions of religious subjects were ruled by
orthodoxy. In effect, the norms that dictated artistic
representations derived, in turn, from social conven-
tions that dictated women’s expected behavior in this
colonial society. These norms stemmed from two
sources: the stringent post-Tridentine Catholicism
practiced in New Spain and the codes of conduct en-
forced by a patriarchal society.26 In this scenario, a wo-
man’s life was, in the public mindset, ideally devoted
either to a life of religious observance—meaning clois-
tered in a convent—or to matrimony and child-rearing.
Higher education institutions, civil governmental insti-
tutions, and guilds all banned women from acquiring
an education, occupying public positions, or practicing
many professions. At the same time, their legal rights
were effectively curtailed vis-`a-vis those of men. How-
ever, despite living in a society that insisted on restrict-
ing their access to educational, cultural, or political
spaces, viceregal novohispanic women still managed
FIGURE 1. Domenikos Theotokopoulos, called El Greco to construct a definition of their femininity. This fem-
(1541–1614), The Penitent Magdalene, c. 1580–85, oil on
inine condition was not defined by carving spaces for
canvas, 40 x 32¼ in. (101.6 x 81.9 cm). The Nelson-Atkins
themselves in the spheres occupied and controlled by
Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, purchase by William
Rockhill Nelson Trust, 30-35 (photograph provided by John men. Instead, their mark and their voices were heard,
Lamberton; image reproduced with permission) and their presences felt, in all the spaces they directly
or indirectly touched upon, whether in the streets of
viceregal cities, the cloistered feminine convents, or the
intimate spaces of domesticity.
In this way, in seventeenth-century New Spain, the
body was employed as a junction between the individual
and society, and the vast numbers of female representa-
tions in viceregal art act as a visual testament to many of
the normative ideals of womanhood.27 A great many of
the female forms found in viceregal art promoted ideali-
zations of feminine qualities, with chasteness and
26. Gonzalbo Aizpuru cites the catechism by Gero´nimo de Ripalda,
forinstance,asasourceofChristianmoraldoctrineappliedtoeverydaylife
that would have reinforced notions of women’s subservient role vis-a`-vis
theirmalecounterparts.SeePilarGonzalboAizpuru,Educacio´n,familiay
vida cotidiana en M´exico virreinal, 1st electronic ed. (Mexico City: El
FIGURE 2. Baltasar Echave Ib´ıa (c. 1580–c. 1660), Penitent ColegiodeM´exico,2013).
Magdalene,c.1605,oiloncanvas,28 x333=4in.(71 x85.5 cm). 27. On this subject, Donahue-Wallace has investigated the re-
MuseoNacionaldeArte (MUNAL)–InstitutoNacionalde presentations of women in viceregal Mexico as depictions of secular and
sacredorderandasrepresentationsofsocialparadigms.SeeKellyDonahue-
Bellas Artes, Mexico City (artwork in the public domain;
photograph © MUNAL-INBA, reproduced with the kind Wallace, “Abused and Battered: PrintedImages and the FemaleBody in
ViceregalNewSpain,”inWomanandArtinEarlyModernLatinAmerica,
permission of the Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico) ed. Kellen Kee McIntyre and Richard E. Phillips (Leiden: Brill, 2007),
125–47.
FromCourtesantoSaint 33
FIGURE3. Juan Correa (1646–1716), The Conversion of St. Mary Magdalene, late seventeenth century, oil on canvas, 423=8 x
653=8 in. (107.5 x 166 cm). MUNAL – Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City (artwork in the public domain;
photograph © MUNAL-INBA, reproduced with the kind permission of the Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico)
piousness being among the principal ones. Juan Correa’s iconographic attributes are present in the painting, such
TheConversionofSt.MaryMagdaleneundoubtedlyepito- as the long hair and the various objects that suggest her
mizessomeofthosenormativenotions—anditdoessoby repentance of a life lived in sin and vanity, such as the
visually conveying a series of spaces that embody feminine opulent clothing, the scattered jewelry on the table and
sensibilities, affections, and spiritual aspirations. Correa floor, and the mirror. The mirror is an artifact that pos-
createdanallegoricalandcodifiedworldthatvisuallytrans- sessesthecapacitytobothcultivatevanityandinciteself-
ports the viewer into spaces that embodied religious and reflection, ultimately leading to realization.
spiritual states of mind, namely repentance, self-reflection, Correa’s Magdalene appears as a young and beautiful
andreferencestoasceticism,mysticism,andfemalemonas- woman,andherattiresuggestsherqualitiesasacourtesan.
ticism.Thesespiritualcategorieswererequiredinthepaint- Her brocaded skirt is reminiscent of the lavish and cur-
ing’s visual program, as the painting most likely hung in vaceousoutfitswornbythesaintssculptedintheestofado
a female convent or in a casa de recogimiento.28 polychrome technique—prevalent and propagated in
In Correa’s episodic narrative, the first episode or reg- New Spain—while her vest and vaporous sleeves subtly
ister, which occupies the left half of the painting (fig. 3), suggest her body figure in a cautious but still sensual
presents us with Mary Magdalene as a repentant figure. manner.
Her repentance, as we know, will eventually result in her Alfonso Alfaro wrote the following about viceregal
conversion. Mary Magdalene’s most common Mexican bodily representation: “Catholic art of the
devout body is sensual but restrained, visual but insuffi-
28. TorresHern´andez,“Pecado,recogimientoyconversio´n.” ciently tactile, and has no use for a purely descriptive
34 LATIN AMERICAN AND LATINX VISUAL CULTURE
realism or an explicit eroticism.”29 Indeed, Mexican vice-
regalartanditsrepresentationsofthebodyinthecontext
of a stringent Catholicism revolved around two ideas:
a discretionary attitude toward revealing the flesh and
an overwhelming opulence in attire. In this manner, the
dressinanestofadosculptureorapainteddepictionofthe
body was like a second skin; it demanded intricacy, as it
wasasubstitutefortheflesh.Furthermore,viceregalMex-
ican bodily representations relied on the viewer’s accep-
tanceofamysticalmetaphor.Ineffect,thiswasanartistic
tradition that relied heavily on the body’s representation
tospirituallyandemotionallymovethespectator.Itoper-
atedbetweenthesuggestionofrenouncingthelustofthe
flesh and the veneration of holy images, with both ends
solidifying notions of how the celestial and the earthly
were intertwined.30
The scene in Correa’s painting represents a woman
who—previous to her repentance—was potentially in
controlofheremotionalandsexualexpressions.Thejew-
els, the clothing, a mirror, the flask of perfume, and the
portraitofamalefriendorloverareevidenceofthis.The
scene is set in a chamber that, while architecturally som-
ber, displays characteristics that would have been consid-
ered opulent, such as the pillars with ornamental
Renaissancemotifs,thehangingvelvetcurtain,theelegant
FIGURE 4. Charles Le Brun (1619–90), Sainte Madeleine
chaironwhichMagdalenesits,andthetiledfloor.Correa
repentante renonce a` toutes les vanit´es de la vie, c. 1650, oil
depictsararesceneinseventeenth-centuryviceregalMex- on canvas, 99¼ x 673=8 in. (252 x 171 cm). Louvre Museum,
ican art, a period characterized by its stringent religious Paris(artworkinthepublicdomain;photograph©Mus´eedu
orthodoxy: that of a woman explicitly displaying traits of Louvre, reproduced with permission)
her sensuality and sexuality. Nevertheless, the notion of
awomanincontrolofhersexualagencygetsshatteredthe Correa’s inspiration for the composition ofthe repen-
minute the viewer realizes the protagonist’s emotional tant Magdalene derived from European prints. Torres
distress,resonantwiththeroom’sdisarray,andembodied Herna´ndezhassuggestedCharlesLeBrun’sfamouspaint-
in her tears, both the real and the symbolic ones—the ingofthePenitentMagdalene,nowintheLouvre(fig.4),
ripped pearl necklace loosely hanging from her neck and as a source of inspiration.
the scattered pearls on the floor.The scene establishes an LeBrun’spaintinginspired,inturn,numerousengrav-
emotional tension in the viewer, who wonders about the ings, such as the one by Gerard Edelinck (c. 1650,
reasons that would distress this young, beautiful, and National Gallery of Victoria), the likes of which might
seemingly affluent woman. The message reveals itself: have made their way to New Spain (fig. 5).31
a woman’s attempts at a life of vanity and autonomous The Le Brun model shows a young Magdalene in con-
sexual agency should not be rewarded at all. trapposto, almost standing or sitting on a stool, fully
clothed and in an interior setting, by a window. As she
29. ”Elartecato´licodelcuerpodevotoessensualperocontenido,visual gazes upward with a contrived look on her face, a cloud
peropoco t´actil, notiene lugarpara elrealismopuramente descriptivo o
paraelerotismoexpl´ıcito.”AlfonsoAlfaro,“O´yemeconlosojos.Elogiodel hoversaboveher,theominouspresenceofheavenlyinter-
cuerpo entrevisto,” in Corpus aureum. Escultura religiosa, uso y estilo cession. Simultaneously, her fanciful, fluid garments lead
(MexicoCity:MuseoFranzMayer–ArtesdeMe´xico,1995),24.
30. AlfonsoAlfaro,“O´yemeconlosojos.Elogiodelcuerpoentrevisto,”
8–25. 31. TorresHern´andez,“Pecado,recogimientoyconversio´n,”52–71.
FromCourtesantoSaint 35
well as her blouse’s see-through sleeves. Unlike Le Brun’s
model,whoappearseitherstandingoronanonvisiblehigh
chairorstool,Correa’sMagdaleneissittingonaluxurious,
padded chair with armrests, part of a sparse but stately
architecturalinterior.However,Correa’smostcrucialinno-
vation stems from depicting the garden and wilderness
observed right outside the room where Magdalene sits.
THE GARDEN
Thesecondregisteroccupiesroughlytherighthalfofthe
painting. While it could be perceived as one single scene,
asbothareoutdoorsasopposedtotheinteriorscenewith
the penitent Magdalene, there is a reason to divide that
registerintotwoparts.Correahasreproducedanordered,
carefullydesignedgardeninthelowerhalf,withparterres,
paths, and a thin water spring emerging from the middle
ofeachparterre.Meanwhile,theupperpartrepresentsan
altogetherdifferentenvironment:anuntamedwilderness.
For one, the designed garden resembles the pictorial rep-
resentation of an hortus conclusus, an allegory that pos-
sessedvariousreadingsinNewSpain.Asiswellknown,in
the Western tradition, the notion of an ideal garden lies
on the hortus conclusus, the idea of enclosure originating
FIGURE 5. Ge´rard Edelinck (1619–84), The Penitent
Magdalen, c. 1650, engraving after Charles Le Brun, 213=8 x in Song of Songs 4:12, “my sister, my spouse is a garden
16 in. (54.2 x 40.3 cm). National Gallery of Victoria, enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up.” How-
Melbourne, Felton Bequest, 1926. This digital record has ever, the enclosed garden also came to be identified with
been made available on NGV Collection Online through theMarianqualityofvirginityandpurity,alongwiththe
the generous support of the Joe White Bequest (artwork in
traditional European metaphors that identified a garden
the public domain; photograph © National Gallery of
or Edenic setting with a place of fertility, birth, and
Victoria, Melbourne, reproduced with permission)
rebirth.32
InCorrea’spainting, theenclosed garden’s firstassoci-
thegazedownward,whereasmalltrunkliesopen,jewelry ation is to that of embodied femininity; the designed
scatteredonthefloor.Onadeskortable,amirrorstands garden should be read as an extension of Magdalene’s
next to an oil flask. body as she regains her chasteness. Note that in the early
Indeed,thesimilaritiesofcompositionbetweentheLe modern period, Magdalene’s beauty was both sensual, as
Brun model and Correa’s repentant Magdalene are evi- in the depictions of Magdalene as a courtesan, but at the
dent. However, Correa’s depiction of Magdalene’s attire, same time, as Haskins has argued, her beauty was also
namely, the brocaded skirt with vegetative and floral mo- sacred.Byraising hereyestoheaven,Magdalene wasalle-
tifs,asinanestofadosculpture;hervest,whichemphasizes gorically alluding to the principles of truth and celestial
Magdalene’swaist;aswellasthevaporoussleeves,standin love.33 In effect, the garden as a symbol of purity also
contrast to the flat patterns, colors, and the flowing and stands in as a spatial symbol of Magdalene’s regained
amorphous attire of Le Brun’s model, which neutralize
32. JeanDelumeau,HistoryofParadise:TheGardenofEdeninMyth
thesaint’sfemalefigure,thereforehinderingitfromsexual
and Tradition (New York: Continuum International Publishing, 1995),
objectification. 122–25;BryanC.Keene,GardensoftheRenaissance(LosAngeles:J.Paul
Correa’s variation from Le Brun’s model concentrates Getty Museum, 2013), 34; Bryan C. Keene and Alexandra Kaczenski,
SacredLandscapes:NatureinRenaissanceManuscripts(LosAngeles:J.Paul
ondepictingawomanexpressinginnerturmoilbutwhose
GettyMuseum,2017),67–70.
sexual appeal emerges via the brocaded, stamped attire, as 33. Haskins,MaryMagdalen,238–39.
36 LATIN AMERICAN AND LATINX VISUAL CULTURE
seventeenth and eighteenth-century New Spain, a good
number of laywomen who inhabited convents but had
not vowed complete seclusion, exiting and re-entering at
will, posed a significant problem for prelates, as it tested
the original virtues of complete seclusion: lack of contact
with males and thorough devotional observance. This
insistenceuponthequalitiesoffemalemonasticismoften
resorted to invoking the figure of the garden. Moreover,
thegardenwasasynecdocheforthemonasticinstitution,
and it was a convent’s most evocative spatial symbol. In
effect, the cloister, as the central, most carefully designed,
and centralized architectural space in a female convent,
can be said to be the spatial heart of female
monasticism.34
In his Parayso occidental (1684), a work devoted to
praising and recounting the biographies of the nuns at
the Royal Convent of Jesu´s Mar´ıa in Mexico City, the
writerCarlosdeSigu¨enzayGo´ngoraevokedthevirtuesof
the cloistered garden, referring to it as a human-made
paradise and provocatively suggesting its superiority over
the Garden of Eden itself.
FIGURE 6. Philippe de Champaigne (1602–74), The Ifinthatone[referringtotheGardenofEden],over
Repentant Magdalen, 1648, oil on canvas, 455=8 x 35 in. original purity triumphed original sin, in this one
(115.9 x 88.9 cm). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston [referring to the cloister of the Augustinian Real de
(MFAH), museum purchase funded by the Agnes Cullen Jesu´s Mar´ıa Convent in Mexico City], divine grace
Arnold Endowment Fund, 70.26 (image reproduced with inhabits peacefully;...if in that one, a cherub
the kind permission of MFAH) expelled the lone woman inhabiting it due to
delinquency; in this one, as seraphim holding on to
chasteness and purity. The second association of the gar- their love for their spouses, innumerable virgins
den inthe context ofCorrea’s narrative,however, should inhabit it.35
be the idea of female monasticism.
The allusions of female cloister-gardens as a spatial
Indeed, while Torres Herna´ndez has argued that Cor-
metaphorforfemalemonastics’stateofpurityandchaste-
rea’s painting could have hung at a casa de recogimiento,
nesscanbeconsideredananalogytoMagdalene’scapacity
his Magdalene was a model that appealed not only to
to regain her purity after her conversion and repentance.
repentantprostitutesbuttoanywomandedicatedtoalife
Furthermore, her conversion and repentance were, in
of religious observance, which is to say, to cloistered
turn, connected to Magdalene’s appeal to eremitic life.
women in general. In effect, it was not uncommon for
In effect, representations of monasticism as a symbol of
a female convent to possess images of Magdalene as
a garden are recurrent in viceregal novohispanic art. One
a repentant sinner. Such is the case of The Repentant
ofthebestexamplesofvisualtreatmentsofthecloisteras
Magdalen by Philippe de Champaigne (1648, Museum
a spatial and symbolic garden of female monasticism and
of Fine Arts, Houston), originally produced forthe Saint
Sacrement du Marais convent in Paris (fig. 6). 34. RubialGarc´ıa,Elpara´ısodeloselegidos,219.
AsAsuncio´nLavrinhasdocumentedinviceregalMex- 35. “Sienaqueltriunfo´delaoriginalpurezalaprimeraculpa;eneste
ico,thefirstandforemostexpressionoffidelityandcom- tiene pac´ıfica habitacio´n la divina gracia [...] y si de aquel desterro´ un
querub´ınaunaso´lamujerquelohabitaba,pordelincuente,enesteviven
mitment to a life of female religious observance was the
comoserafinesabrazadasenelamordesuEsposoinnumerablesV´ırgenes.”
notion of becoming enclosed in a convent. In fact, in Carlos de Sigu¨enza y Go´ngora, Para´ıso occidental (Mexico City: Consejo
NacionalparalaCulturaylasArtes,2003),33.
FromCourtesantoSaint 37
FIGURE7. Unidentifiedartist,Losdesposoriosm´ısticosenelMonteCarmelo(TheMysticalMarriageatMountCarmel),c.1790,
oiloncanvas.MuseoNacionaldelVirreinato,CONACULTA-INAH(artworkinthepublicdomain;Artecolonialamericano,
http://52.183.37.55/,imagereproducedwiththekindpermissionoftheInstitutoNacionaldeAntropolog´ıaeHistoria(INAH),
Mexico)
piety, in other words as locus amoenus, is found in the design, as in Correa’s enclosed garden, is marked by par-
anonymous Mystical Marriage painting, an eighteenth- terres; in the case of the Carmelite painting, these are
century work that today is part of the National Museum round and delimited by stone ashlars. Nonetheless, the
of the Viceroyalty’s collection, in Tepotzotla´n, Mexico garden as an Edenic setting, a space for introspection,
(fig. 7). seclusion,andcommunionwithJesus,issimilarinnature
The painting depicts a Carmelite nun in the act of to Correa’s garden depiction.
engaginginmatrimonywithChrist,representedasachild; Thereareotherinstancesofthecloisteredgardenasso-
the Virgin Mary holds him as he pierces the nun-bride’s ciatedwithMaryMagdalene’sfigure.Suchisthecasewith
heart with a nail. Behind them, a cadre of saints, such as the representation of an episode of Noli me tangere,
St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, and St. Joseph, stand attributed tothe novohispanic viceregal artistJuan Tino-
as witnesses to the ceremony. A garden whose center is co,housedintheSanJero´nimoconventinPuebla(fig.8).
marked by a fountain represents a Carmelite religious ThispaintingshowsChriststandingandakneelingMag-
community, seen on the painting’s right-side register. In dalene beside him in the forefront, while a baroque, en-
the scene, a series of Carmelite nuns tend to the garden, closed garden with perfectly delineated parterres serves as
wateringtheflowers,whilearoundthemacurtainoftrees a backdrop for the scene. Despite the artistic tradition of
envelops the whole architectural space. The garden’s representing the scene when Magdalene and Jesus meet
38 LATIN AMERICAN AND LATINX VISUAL CULTURE