Coronation of the Virgin with Saints (nun's badge)
- José de Páez, Mexican, 1727-1790
- Born: Mexico City, Mexico
- Work Locations: Mexico City, Mexico
- Attributed to
Attributed to José de Páez, Coronation of the Virgin with Saints (Nun's Badge), about 1770. Oil paint on copper with tortoise shell frame; 8¼ in. dia. Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 2015.557.
Nun’s badges (escudos) are unique to Mexico. Invented there in the 1600s, they were worn at the throat by Conceptionist and Hieronymite nuns over the habits of their respective orders. Depicting the Virgin and saints significant to the order and/or the individual nun, they were usually painted on round or oval sheets of copper and framed in tortoiseshell or wood. Many of the most famous artists in Mexico painted nun’s badges, and some are signed. This badge is similar in style and complexity to others made by, or attributed to, José de Páez (1727-1790), a prolific artist who often painted for the convents in Mexico City. At least eleven escudos are known to have been painted by Páez or have been attributed to him.
This escudo depicts the coronation of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception by the Trinity, flanked by the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary as well as three tiers of saints. The upper tier depicts, left to right, Saint Joachim, Saint John the Baptist, the Archangels Michael and Raphael, the Guardian Angel with a human soul, and Saint Anne. The middle tier depicts Saint Luis Gonzaga, Saint John of Nepomuk, Saint Barbara, Saint Joseph with the Christ Child, Saint Rosalia of Palermo, and Saint John of God. The bottom tier depicts Saint Gertrude the Great, Saint Ignatius Loyola, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Stanislaus Kostka with the Christ Child, Saint Teresa of Ávila, and Saint Anthony of Padua, who takes the Christ Child from the arms of Saint Joseph in the tier above. A Franciscan cord and border distinctive to the genre—roses, blue ribbons, and cherub heads on a gold ground—encircle the composition.
– Donna Pierce, 2015; revised by Kathryn Santner, Frederick and Jan Mayer Fellow of Spanish Colonial Art, 2023
- Painting a New World: Mexican Art and Life 1521 - 1821, Denver Art Museum, April 3 - July 25, 2004.
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