Inscribed under the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Mi Jesu mitis, & humilis Corde: Fac cor meum secundum Cor tuum. (from the ‘Litany to the Most Sacred Heart’; traditional) Iesu, mitis et corde, R. Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (Trans: Jesus, meek and humble of heart. Make our hearts like unto Yours.)
Inscribed on the heart that each figure holds, left to right (NOTE: ‘Sr’ means ‘Sor’=Sister, and ‘Ma’ = María; e.g., ‘Sister Maria of the Heart of Mary’, ‘Sister Maria of the Baby Jesus’, ‘Sister Maria of the Blood of Christ’, etc):
(Upper Register); ‘R.RV. F. Joaquin Gonzale(s?); Ma de Corazon de Ma; Ma Regina de Jos(?); M.S. Ma de la Sma(?or S Ma) Frim…(?); (the middle heart, and next one to right are illegible); Sr Ma del la Concepn; Sr Ma Cola(?)na de S Jos; Sr Ma de Niño Jesus
(Middle Register); Sr Maria Espiritus; S. Maria…(illegible); S …Maria de la Sangre de Ch(ris)to
(Lower Register); Sr Ma d S Agustin; Sr Ma del Corazon de Jesus
Inscribed lower center: Encomie(n)den a Dios a la Sra. Echonoma, Año 1787 ([They] commend Sra Echonoma to God)
This painting is of an emblematic type, dedicated to the memory of a departed woman (Señora Echonoma, probably a patroness of this particular convent), and its iconography is dense and fascinating.
The nuns wear a distinctive veil with an oval flap that covers their foreheads, and grey or blue habits. Also, one of the figures in the foreground is wearing a twined cincture around her waist. These were the habits of nuns of the Franciscan order who ‘adopted the less-stringent guidelines of Pope Urban VIII.’
The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, depicted in a glory on the upper canvas, was associated with the Jesuits in the eighteenth century. The presence of a (restored) portrait of a Jesuit priest (he is named on the heart above and to the right of his head, ‘R.RV.F. Joaquin Gonzales’) on the left confirms this Jesuit devotion. Since the Jesuits were expelled from all territories ruled by that Spanish Crown 1767 (not reinstated until 1814), we likely have an approximate date for the creation of this painting; that is, before 1767.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, depicted in a glory on the upper canvas, was associated with the Jesuits in the eighteenth century. The presence of a (restored) portrait of a Jesuit priest (he is named above ‘R.RV.F. Joaquin Gonzales’) on the left confirms this Jesuit devotion, and it is likely that the nuns are holding the Sacred Heart of Mary, a devotion in their order.
Here the theological implications are beyond the knowledge of the present writer, but further research may reveal how these various devotions to Sacred Hearts are connected.
