Nun’s chest shield. Colonial School. Mexico. 17th – 18th century.

Nun’s chest shield. Colonial School. Mexico. 17th – 18th century.
Embroidery and painting on textile. With an imposing, period ebony and tortoiseshell frame. Embroidery measurements: 16 x 15 cm. Frame measurements: 31,5 x 30,5 cm.
This genre of devotional art spread considerably in the 17th and 18th centuries in Spain and in the New Hispanic world. They were often small pictures painted or embroidered with religious scenes, that nuns wore on their chests as they took their vows. In the classic portraits of crowned nuns, as well as flowers, veils and other ornaments, the relevance of these chest shields can also be appreciated. On occasions, even artists of the calibre of José de Páez, Miguel Cabrera and Luís Juárez among others, painted some of these shields.