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18. VICENTE LÓPEZ PORTAÑA, LA TRANSVERBERACIÓN DE SANTA TERESA DE JESÚS, CIRCA 1795 (CE4/04568)

To celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Teresa of Jesus (28th March 1515 - 4th October 1582) the museum pays homage to her by choosing a Tere-sian work, which has never before been displayed as ‘Piece of the Month’. The piece is a drawing by aca-demic painter Vicente López Portaña (19th September 1772 – 22nd July 1850) which depicts the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (Figure 1).

St. Teresa of Jesus Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, also known as Teresa de Jesús, was the daughter of Alonso Sánchez de Cepeda and Beatriz de Ahumada. Born into a wealthy family from Ávila, she showed signs of a religious ca-lling from a young age, which she was finally able to realise when she entered the Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation in Ávila in 1533, and professed a year later. A long illness forced her to leave the convent and return to her family home but, once recovered, she began to plan the reform of the Carmelites. On 24th August 1562, with permission from Pope Pius IV,

she moved to the convent of Saint Joseph in Ávila. As part of her reform of the Carmelite Order, St. Teresa imposed strict rules concerning austerity, isolation and silence. The reform proposed by St. Teresa resul-ted in the birth of the Discalced Carmelites. After the reform was established in Ávila, 16 more convents followed suit over the next 20 years in cities such as Toledo, Salamanca and Seville. As well as working on the reform of the Carmelite nuns, St. Teresa suppor-ted St. John of the Cross in the reform of the Carmeli-te friars. She was also one of the main figures in mys-tical literature, writing with great spirituality and a deep sense of connection to the divine through the contemplative life. It is possible to follow her life and spiritual evolution by reading her autobiographical works such as The Life of St. Teresa of Ávila, Spiritual Relations, The Book of Her Foundations and The Letters of St. Teresa. In addition to these, her collection of literary works also includes titles of great significance for mysticism such as: The Way of Perfection, Concepts of Divine Love and The Interior Castle. She died at the age of 67 in Alba de Tormes, Salamanca, and in 1604

the process of canonisation began. She was beatified in 1614 and finally canonised in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. On 27th September 1970, in recognition of her erudition, she was given the honour of Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI, making her the first woman, along with St. Catherine of Siena, to be awarded the distinction.

Vicente López’s La Transverberación de

Santa Teresa de Jesús

It is thought that the Teresian drawing, of unknown origins, was acquired in the 20th century by the Mu-seum’s founder, Manuel González Martí. He included it in his archive of Valencian art along with other works of various types which make up a volume dedi-cated to López. Although this volume is mostly com-prised of photographs of some of López’s most fa-mous works, as well as La Transverberación de Santa Teresa de Jesús, there are two other pieces of art pre-sent: Las dos Trinidades (Figure 2) and Aparición de la Virgen del Pilar a Santiago (Figure 9). This last work is an unfinished sketch that must be seen in the context of other known works by the painter, such as the canvas in the Colección Castejón in Zaragoza and a sketch held by the Biblioteca Nacional (see Díez Gar-cía, 1999, Catalogue Raisonné, P-275 and D-273). This piece is undeniably one of López’s, as demonstra-ted by the exquisite execution, his trademark charac-teristics and the fact that it is signed “Vic.te Lopez F.ct” in the bottom left-hand corner. The artwork measures 20.5cm by 14cm and is a combination of pencil, ink and watercolour on paper. There are clues that it may have been a design for an altarpiece, dedi-cated to St. Teresa, such as its arched shape and grid markings, although there is no actual evidence of it being used for this purpose.

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1. Vicente López, La transverberación de Santa Teresa de Jesús. Pencil, ink and waterco-lour on paper. Valencian Art archives. CE4/04568. Museo Nacional de Cerá-mica.

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2. Vicente López, Las dos Trinidades. 3. Vicente López, Aparición de la Virgen del Pilar a Santiago. Valencian Art archives. Museo Nacional de Cerámica.

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However, as José Manuel da la Mano has suggested, we shouldn’t rule out the possibility that López inten-ded the finished piece to be used in a portable ora-tory, because it does not seem to have been drawn to fit within a rectangular frame. In his catalogue raisonné, José Luis Díez compiles other López pieces related to La Transverberación de Santa Teresa de Jesús: one found in Madrid in 7532 which depicts St. Teresa from the waist up, and anot-her which belonged to the Baron of La Almolda, and was on display at the Centro Escolar y Mercantil in Valencia in 1926. According to Díez, these pieces date back to 1795 and, because of their similiar features, La Transverberación de Santa Teresa de Jesús is also dated to the same time.

Díez gives examples of the similarities, saying that “The tears in the material and the shape of the eyes, with enormous, round pupils are typical of the painte-r’s style in the early years following his return to Va-lencia, with marked influence by the range of shapes and monumentality of the works of Luca Giordano and Corrado Giaquinto.” (see Díez García, Catalogue Raisonné, 1999, pp. 279-280). Likewise, it is also simi-lar to a painting held in a Valencian collection which is a little larger (52cm by 41cm), and also shows the saint from the waist up but shows the angel in a slightly different position (Figure 4). López depicts St. Teresa in her cell, wearing the habit of the Carmelite Order. With a mystic expression, knees bent and arms outstretched, she gazes at the angel who drives a burning arrow through her heart. In the background we see her writing desk and books which represent her role as a writer and theologian. There is also a crucifix and a skull, which represent the notions of meditation and penance. These last two objects are also derived from Jesuit teaching. Given that, in 1548, Pope Paul III consecrated the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, and recommended that all Christians follow them, meditation on death was important. Contemplation of death was recom-mended for Jesuits as one of the best methods for fighting the passions and, in practice, the use of a skull was encouraged. Because of this, the skull even-tually became a symbol of piety and sanctity that would appear in representations of great mystics of the 17th century, as is the case with St. Teresa of Jesus, an expert on the writings of Ignatius. The piece shows St. Teresa in one of the most famous episodes of her biography, The Ecstasy, which she described in Chapter 29 of The Life of St. Teresa of Ávila: “I saw an angel close by me, on my left side, in bodily form. This I am not accustomed to see, unless very rarely. Though I have visions of angels frequently,

yet I see them only by an intellectual vision, … He was not large, but small of stature, and most beautiful - his face burning, as if he were one of the highest angels, who seem to be all of fire: they must be those whom we call cherubim. … I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron’s point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fiire with a great love of God.” (St. Teresa of Ávi-la. The Life of St. Teresa of Ávila, pp. 225-226, transla-tion by David Lewis). Transverberation (from the Latin transverberare, to transcend, to strike through) is the word used to describe the mystical experience some saints had, in which they achieved an intimate union with God, and felt their heart being pierced by divine fire.

18. VICENTE LÓPEZ PORTAÑA, LA TRANSVERBERACIÓN DE SANTA TERESA DE JESÚS, CIRCA.1795 (CE4/04568)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ALBA PAGÁN, Ester (2004): La pintura y los pintores valencianos durante la Guerra de la Independencia y el reinado de Fernando VII (1808-1833). University of Valen-cia, Department of Art History. DÍEZ GARCÍA, José Luis (1999): Vicente López (1772-1850) Vida y obra. Madrid, Fundación Arte Hispánico, 2 vols. Father Silverio de Santa Teresa (1915) TERESA DE JESÚS. The Life of St. Teresa of Ávila. Translated by David Lewis (2011) Cosimo Classics, New York. Chapter 29, pp. 225-226. MENDEZ CASAL, A & GONZÁLEZ MARTÍ, M (1928): Vi-cente López: Su vida, su obra, su tiempo. (Conferencias). Opening exhibition catalogue at the Centro Escolar y Mercantil de Valencia 17th April 1926, Valencia, Modern Typography

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VICENTE LÓPEZ PORTAÑA López, a painter born on 19th September 1772 in Valen-cia, was one of the main figures in 19th century aca-demic painting. As a student at the Real Academia de San Carlos in Valencia he showed an exceptional tal-ent for painting and in 1789, thanks to his work El rey Ezequías hacienda ostentación de sus riquezas, he was awarded a grant to study in Madrid. A year later, he was awarded first prize at the Real Academia de San Fernando for his painting Los Reyes Católicos recibiendo una embajada del rey de Fez. His success continued when in 1815 he was appointed as Court Painter for King Ferdinand VII, and he soon became the painter of choice for the upper class. As Court Painter, he had the opportunity to become acquainted with the styles of great artists such as Mengs, Francis-co Bayeu, and fellow Valencian Mariano Salvador Ma-ella. Despite his success in Madrid, he never forgot the art scene in Valencia. When he returned temporarily to his home city in 1792, he was snapped up by both cler-gymen and laymen, with commissions for a variety of work including: private devotion, portraits, church mu-rals and large altarpieces.

4. Vicente López, Éxtasis de Santa Teresa. Volume of Valencian art. Photo: Oscar Benavent and Alicia Hernández.

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