El pincel y la pluma en la Vida de sor Estefanía de la Encarnación

This article examines the importance of the visual in the spiritual autobiography of the painter-author Sor Estefanía de la Encarnación (ca. 1597–1665). Looking at Estefania’s account of her artistic development in her Vida (1631), we explore the ambivalence she betrays towards her talent, which she...

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Main Authors: Laura R. Bass, Tanya J. Tiffany
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Civilisations et Littératures d’Espagne et d’Amérique du Moyen Âge aux Lumières (CLEA) - Paris Sorbonne 2020-02-01
Series:E-Spania
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/e-spania/33822
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author Laura R. Bass
Tanya J. Tiffany
author_facet Laura R. Bass
Tanya J. Tiffany
author_sort Laura R. Bass
collection DOAJ
description This article examines the importance of the visual in the spiritual autobiography of the painter-author Sor Estefanía de la Encarnación (ca. 1597–1665). Looking at Estefania’s account of her artistic development in her Vida (1631), we explore the ambivalence she betrays towards her talent, which she describes as both a divine gift that led her to God and as a distraction that took her from prayer. We also consider the role, and limits, of sacred images in her devotional practice. We then turn to the pictorial language she uses to convey her religious visions: a language rooted in the tradition of the Song of the Songs and lyric poetry “a lo divino”. Throughout, we are attentive to the inspiration she draws from Spain’s great mystical writers, Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila. Like Saint Teresa and other holy women, she wrote her Vida at the behest of her confessor, who likely regarded Estefanía herself as a potential candidate for sainthood.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1951-6169
language Spanish
publishDate 2020-02-01
publisher Civilisations et Littératures d’Espagne et d’Amérique du Moyen Âge aux Lumières (CLEA) - Paris Sorbonne
record_format Article
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spelling doaj-art-9dfc23abf4b548e9971f407d779f0a5c2024-12-09T13:37:01ZspaCivilisations et Littératures d’Espagne et d’Amérique du Moyen Âge aux Lumières (CLEA) - Paris SorbonneE-Spania1951-61692020-02-013510.4000/e-spania.33822El pincel y la pluma en la Vida de sor Estefanía de la EncarnaciónLaura R. BassTanya J. TiffanyThis article examines the importance of the visual in the spiritual autobiography of the painter-author Sor Estefanía de la Encarnación (ca. 1597–1665). Looking at Estefania’s account of her artistic development in her Vida (1631), we explore the ambivalence she betrays towards her talent, which she describes as both a divine gift that led her to God and as a distraction that took her from prayer. We also consider the role, and limits, of sacred images in her devotional practice. We then turn to the pictorial language she uses to convey her religious visions: a language rooted in the tradition of the Song of the Songs and lyric poetry “a lo divino”. Throughout, we are attentive to the inspiration she draws from Spain’s great mystical writers, Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila. Like Saint Teresa and other holy women, she wrote her Vida at the behest of her confessor, who likely regarded Estefanía herself as a potential candidate for sainthood.https://journals.openedition.org/e-spania/33822Estefanía de la Encarnaciónspiritual autobiographiesmysticism and visual imagerypainter-nunswriter-nuns
spellingShingle Laura R. Bass
Tanya J. Tiffany
El pincel y la pluma en la Vida de sor Estefanía de la Encarnación
E-Spania
Estefanía de la Encarnación
spiritual autobiographies
mysticism and visual imagery
painter-nuns
writer-nuns
title El pincel y la pluma en la Vida de sor Estefanía de la Encarnación
title_full El pincel y la pluma en la Vida de sor Estefanía de la Encarnación
title_fullStr El pincel y la pluma en la Vida de sor Estefanía de la Encarnación
title_full_unstemmed El pincel y la pluma en la Vida de sor Estefanía de la Encarnación
title_short El pincel y la pluma en la Vida de sor Estefanía de la Encarnación
title_sort el pincel y la pluma en la vida de sor estefania de la encarnacion
topic Estefanía de la Encarnación
spiritual autobiographies
mysticism and visual imagery
painter-nuns
writer-nuns
url https://journals.openedition.org/e-spania/33822
work_keys_str_mv AT laurarbass elpincelylaplumaenlavidadesorestefaniadelaencarnacion
AT tanyajtiffany elpincelylaplumaenlavidadesorestefaniadelaencarnacion