Santa Rosa de Lima [Saint Rose of Lima]

The first person born in the Americas to receive the title of saint by the Catholic Church was Isabel Flores de Oliva. Born in the city of Lima, capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, the young woman of Spanish descent was commonly depicted wearing the habit of the Dominican Order, which she joined at age twenty as a lay member. Living at her parents’ home instead of a convent, she adopted the name Rosa, and dedicated her life to prayer, claiming many mystical events that propelled her fame and led to her eventual canonization in 1671. Devotion to Santa Rosa de Lima spread rapidly, as she was considered proof of the sacred character of the Americas, and thus, a symbol of local identity. This painting, produced in what today is Venezuela, demonstrates the broad geographic scope of her cult.