1614, Peter Paul Rubens, The Holy Women at the Sepulchre -- Norton Simon Museum (Pasadena)
From the museum label: Scriptural sources vary on the identities of the women who were the first followers to hear of Christ's resurrection, but Peter Paul Rubens's Holy Women at the Sepulchre centralizes the Virgin Mary—swathed in a lavender stola—as a key witness to the angels revelation. Later in the century, Philip IV's spiritual advisor Sor María de Ágreda would write a revisionist biography of Mary that asserted her presence at, and active participation in, additional miracles of Christ. This amplification of women's roles in biblical narratives formed the backdrop to Mariana's regency, when she ruled Spain on behalf of her young son, Charles II. The Virgin in particular would have served as an important model for female authority derived from and exercised through her son.
1614, Peter Paul Rubens, The Holy Women at the Sepulchre -- Norton Simon Museum (Pasadena)
From the museum label: Scriptural sources vary on the identities of the women who were the first followers to hear of Christ's resurrection, but Peter Paul Rubens's Holy Women at the Sepulchre centralizes the Virgin Mary—swathed in a lavender stola—as a key witness to the angels revelation. Later in the century, Philip IV's spiritual advisor Sor María de Ágreda would write a revisionist biography of Mary that asserted her presence at, and active participation in, additional miracles of Christ. This amplification of women's roles in biblical narratives formed the backdrop to Mariana's regency, when she ruled Spain on behalf of her young son, Charles II. The Virgin in particular would have served as an important model for female authority derived from and exercised through her son.