Jasienski presents a highly readable, engaging, and compelling study of portraiture and the sacred in the early modern Hispanic world. Traditionally, portraits and sacred images have been viewed as distinct artistic genres—“one of the two poles that dominated artistic production in the Hispanic world” (12); yet, despite their original purpose commemorating a known individual, portraits often lost their referents and could transform from secular to sacred images, rendering this division artificial at best. The book is wide-ranging, beautifully illustrated, and well supported by primary and secondary sources. While its most extensively researched discussions center around Puebla (Mexico) and sites in Spain itself, Jasienski deserves commendation for the extensive geographic scope of this project, which skillfully incorporates case studies from Bogotá and Lima, as well as examples from smaller towns in Spain. While Spanish territories in Asia are referenced, they are not explored in depth. This wide geographic range allows Jasienski to explore how local factors impacted reception of the visual throughout the Hispanic world.
The four chapters, buttressed by a substantial and thoughtful introduction and conclusion, take on four different phenomena as connected to portraits and the sacred. Chapter 1 examines what Jasienski, following Emilio Orozco Díaz, refers to as “portraits a lo divino,” where a known sitter is depicted in the guise of a saint. Historically, such paintings were often interpreted, in line with early modern critics, as vainglorious examples of self-promotion. Placing these works within the context of contemporaneous pious practices, Jasienski instead argues that we see them as self-denying. He suggests that devout viewers seeing themselves depicted as the Virgin Mary or a saint would be encouraged to reflect on their own sinfulness and unworthiness as compared with these holy figures.
Chapter 2 explores a significant topic within the early modern Hispanic world: the so-called vera effigies (true portrait). This chapter particularly focuses on the development of sacred portraits during this period, which were understood to accurately convey the physiognomy of the individuals they depicted. New (male) saints, such as Ignatius of Loyola, became associated with specific facial features rather than being identified solely by symbolic attributes. At the same time, Jasienski describes how idiosyncratic facial features could convey truth to viewers even when applied to depictions of saints for whom no portrait was taken during their lifetime.
Chapter 3 considers the repainting of portraits, contextualizing this practice within broader early modern practices of revising “finished” images. Jasienski argues that the inherently malleable nature of the portrait allowed for this kind of repurposing and engagement. A case study of the Inquisitorial investigation into repainted portraits of Bishop Palafox of Puebla serves as an opportunity to consider not only the addition of saintly elements to a non-canonized figure but also local reception of such images.
Chapter 4 concludes by considering a supposedly secular genre of portraiture—the Spanish royal portrait. The Spanish royal family notoriously did not employ signs of divine kingship. As a result, royal portraits are often indistinguishable in composition and symbolism from non-royal portraits. Jasienski discusses the way these portraits were staged—particularly the use of canopies—as parallel to staging employed for sacred images and for the Eucharist. He also describes expected social responses to royal portraits, ultimately arguing that both staging and conditioned responses approximate royal portraits to sacred images.
In addition to being well written and convincingly argued, one of the merits of Jasienski’s writing is that each chapter easily functions as a standalone unit, convenient for assigning to students for use in the classroom. This, combined with the volume’s accessible tone, mean that Jasienski not only makes a significant contribution to scholarship but also offers an excellent choice for teaching, whether the course focuses on the Hispanic world or is more broadly interested in portraiture, in the sacred image, or both.
