Nun’s Badge with the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception
Nicolás Rodríguez Juárez
ca. 1710 · Oil and gold on copper; tortoiseshell and silver frame · The American Wing
Pictorial medallions like this one were worn by Conceptionist and Jeronymite nuns in Mexico at the time of their profession and on the occasion of important religious feasts. Worn over the heart, the badge was the visible symbol of the nun’s pact with the Virgin Mary, an act that referenced the Song of Solomon (8:6): "put me as a seal upon thy heart." The wearing of such badges by Mexican nuns was a practice that emerged in response to dress restrictions imposed by ecclesiastical authorities. Instructed to wear images of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception on their habits instead of precious adornments that were condemned as contrary to their vows, some nuns responded by wearing large painted badges, often commissioned from leading artists like Nicolás Rodríguez Juárez.
- Artist
- Nicolás Rodríguez Juárez
- Date
- ca. 1710
- Medium
- Oil and gold on copper; tortoiseshell and silver frame
- Culture
- Mexican
- Department
- The American Wing
- Credit line
- Purchase, Sansbury-Herbert Mills Fund, 2021
