Spanish or Novo-Hispanic school; second half of the 18th century.

Spanish or Novo-Hispanic school; second half of the 18th century.
"Santa Gertrudis crowned".
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 61 x 45 cm; 70 x 55 cm (frame).
During the XVIII century the cult to Santa Gertrudis la Magna was very diffused in all the Spanish empire, and of her we have numerous representations in Castile, Aragon and Portugal as well as in Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru and Mexico. The image spread in engravings, canvases, sculptures, nuns' shields and medallions, was placed in altarpieces and was included among the most outstanding saints in paintings showing the heavenly court. In addition, she was mentioned in numerous sermons, novenas, prayers, masses and hagiographies, and her life inspired a play in which the saint was called "Christ's most beloved". Undoubtedly, this popular diffusion of her image and her story went parallel to a popularization of the cult, whose peak can be observed in the first half of the 18th century. However, since the end of the 16th century there is already evidence that her devotion was spreading in the Hispanic sphere.
The presence of this German saint of the 13th century in the Iberian world is immersed in the process of expansion of the Counter-Reformation. In fact, the spread of her cult in the Modern Age was associated with the publication of her autobiography and her writings in the Charterhouse of Cologne in 1536, within a Counter-Reformation reaction movement. However, it was not until 1599 when his influence began to grow in the Iberian Peninsula, as a result of the Latin edition of these works. In 1603 the first volume of his works was published in Spanish, and soon the other two were published, a fact that had a strong impact on both the diffusion of his cult and his image.