BRIDGING HEAVEN AND SPAIN: THE VIRGIN OF MERCY FROM THE LATE MEDIEVAL PERIOD TO THE AGE OF EXPLORATION by KATRENA SWOPE KUGLER A THESIS Presented to the Department of the History of Art and Architecture and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts June 2013 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: Katrena Swope Kugler Title: Bridging Heaven and Spain: The Virgin of Mercy from the Late Medieval Period to the Age of Exploration This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture by: Assistant Professor Nicola Camerlenghi Chair Associate Professor Andrew Schulz Member Professor Stephen Shoemaker Member and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation; Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2013 ii © 2013 Katrena Swope Kugler iii THESIS ABSTRACT Katrena Swope Kugler Master of Arts Department of the History of Art and Architecture June 2013 Title: Bridging Heaven and Spain: The Virgin of Mercy from the Late Medieval Period to the Age of Exploration The Virgin of Mercy is a Marian devotional image type recognizable by its portrayal of Mary protecting the faithful with her cloak. This thesis situates the iconography of painted panels within their historical and cultural context in Spain from the late medieval period to the Age of Exploration. I explain the image’s origins and introduce its various versions, focusing on three major frequently commissioned subtypes: the Sponsorship of the Virgin, plague commissions, and the Mercedarian’s Virgin of Mercy. I present a case study of one famous version of the type, the Virgin of the Navigators, and focus on the Spaniards and Amerindians beneath the cloak, situating them in relation to the historic debate that called into question the very humanity of the peoples of the Americas. The thesis explores the painting’s possible statement the patrons may have been making through the artistic treatment of both groups. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Katrena Swope Kugler GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH DEGREES AWARDED: Master of Arts, Art History, 2013, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts, Fine Arts and Spanish, 2007, Ohio Wesleyan University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Museum Studies Medieval Art History PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Co-Curator, Exhibition of Byzantine Marian Icons, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, May-July, 2013 Internship, Curatorial Department, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, January-March, 2013 Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of Art History, University of Oregon, 2012 to 2013 Internship, Preparations Department, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, September, 2011-March, 2012 AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer, Ohio Campus Compact, Defiance College, 2010- 2011 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Graduate Teaching Fellowship, Art History, 2012 to 2013 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many individuals were supportive of my graduate studies in many different ways, and I would like to express my gratitude to the following. I am grateful to Professor Nick Camerlenghi for his willingness to advise me on this project, edit my work, and support my research, writing, and intellectual efforts, and to my committee members Professors Andy Schulz and Stephen Shoemaker. Dr. Carol Neuman de Vegvar introduced the art history discipline to me and saw a Master’s Degree student in me. Phyllis Kloda, Professor of Ceramics at SUNY Brockport, Marty Kalb, retired Professor of Painting and Modern Art, Ohio Wesleyan University, and Dr. Rowena Hernández-Múzquiz, Professor of History, Broward College, have been invaluable sources of support, advice, and enthusiasm. I thank Reverend Dr. Dan Bryant, Associate Pastor April Oristano, and the congregation of First Christian Church of Eugene for being my spiritual home away from home. Zoraya Palomera Sánchez has been like a sister to me throughout my graduate experience. All my classmates, especially Kelsie Greer and Jordan Koel, have shared the graduate experience with me. And I thank Kate Beaver, who was there for me when I needed her. vi This thesis is dedicated to Joette and Dewey Kugler, my mother and father, and to my God. Without them, this project would not have been possible. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 II. THE ORIGINS AND MEANING OF THE VIRGIN OF MERCY ....................... 7 III. ICONOGRAPHY OF THE VIRGIN OF MERCY IN SPAIN ............................. 25 IV. THE VIRGIN OF THE NAVIGATORS AS THE VIRGIN OF MERCY ............... 52 V. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 69 REFERENCES CITED ................................................................................................ 73 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Roman coins........................................................................................................... 9 2. Cistercian Seal, 1335. ............................................................................................ 11 3. Cistercian Seal, 1352 ............................................................................................. 12 4. The Virgin of Mercy ............................................................................................... 14 5. The Miracle of the Jewish Boy at Bourges ............................................................ 19 6. The Virgin of Mercy ............................................................................................... 26 7. The Virgin of Mercy ............................................................................................... 30 8. The Sponsorship of the Virgin and The Sudarium of St. Veronica ........................ 35 9. The Sponsorship of the Virgin................................................................................ 37 10. The Virgin of Mercy ............................................................................................... 42 11. The Virgin of Mercy ............................................................................................... 43 12. The Virgin Bestowing the Habit of the Order of the Mercedarians ...................... 46 13. Mercedarian Coat-of-Arms .................................................................................... 46 14. The Mercedarians’ Virgin of Mercy ...................................................................... 49 15. The Virgin of the Navigators.................................................................................. 53 16. Altarpiece of The Virgin of the Navigators............................................................ 54 17. Detail of The Virgin of the Navigators .................................................................. 58 18. The Virgin of Mercy of the Last Judgment............................................................. 62 19. Detail of The Virgin of the Navigators .................................................................. 66 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Virgin of Mercy is a Marian devotional image type immediately recognizable by its portrayal of Mary protecting the faithful with her cloak.1 To its late medieval viewing audience, any given image was a reassuring picture of protection. For contemporary viewers, these same images visually reference the broad cultural issues feared by the original devotees of her cult. Spanish examples of the Virgin of Mercy are no different. Moreover, by understanding the iconographical references in panel paintings of the type from Spain, the viewer can almost envision the cultural pulse of Spain from the late medieval period to the Age of Exploration. The image has enjoyed a long history of patronage and a diverse range of sheltering figures. While its first appearance was as an ancient sheltering cloak type featuring pagan deities, it was transformed in the late Middle Ages as one of many versions of the Virgin. It was commissioned in the hope of preventing the Black Death, and has been one of the first paintings in European history to reference the exploration of the New World. Beneath the miraculous, healing cloak, groups of mortals have been depicted as varied as royal and ecclesiastical authorities, monks, nuns, townsfolk, children, naked people, the family of the Catholic Monarchs, New World explorers and conquistadores, and natives of the Americas. While the topic of the Virgin of Mercy has been explored in the body of extant scholarship concerning the type, Spanish examples, that is, images commissioned and produced by Spaniards and destined for devotional use within the Iberian Peninsula have 1 This image type is known by several different but related titles that have been used to refer to this and other Marian types: The Virgin of Mercy, The Madonna of Mercy, Our Lady of Mercy, The Virgin of Misericordia, The Madonna of Misericordia, etc. These versions have also been translated into the different European languages. For the sake of simplicity, this thesis will refer to the type in English as The Virgin of Mercy. 1 yet to be considered. This thesis focuses on panel paintings of this type from the late medieval period to the Age of Exploration