Framed Portrait of St. Rose of Lima (K 48) Plaque

St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617) wanted to become a nun, but her father refused to allow it. Eventually, however, she was permitted to join the Third Order of St. Dominic to live out her apostolate at home. + In this stylized portrait, St. Rose stands next to a prie-dieu or kneeler. An open book lay on its shelf. St. Rose is clad in a Dominican habit consisting of a white wimple, cream-coloured robe and scapular, black belt and rosary, and a black veil and mantle. On her head, she wears a crown of thorns like St. Catherine of Siena, her role model, instead of her more usual attribute: a crown of roses. (Roses are, however, incorporated into the picture’s elaborate oval frame). In her right hand, she holds a spray of lilies indicating her status as a consecrated virgin. Beyond the low wall that separates foreground from background is a tropical Peruvian landscape. + An elaborate faux gilt wooden frame surrounds the image. At the top, two putti or small, chubby boys with wings hold pink bandaroles inscribed “Rosa” and “Limensis”, that is, “Rose of Lima” in Latin. Frontal face figures of a female at the top and a male at the bottom as well as two male figures in profile wearing feather headdresses at the sides of the frame allude to the indigenous people of Peru. Roses, sprays of lilies, greenery, and pink ribbons and bows further embellish the frame. + St. Rose of Lima is the first Catholic in the Americas to be declared a saint. She is patron of gardeners and florists as well as Peru, the Americas, and the Philippines. + Feast: August 23 + Image Credit (K 48): Antique image of St. Rose of Lima, from Henry Riancey’s La vie des Saints : illustrée en chromolithographie, d'après les manuscrits de tous les siècles, publiée par F. Kellerhoven (Paris: Librairie Bachelin-Deflorenne, [1874]), f. p. 288, from the designer’s private library. Franz Kellerhoven (1814-1872), the chromolithographer, was a German priest-artist who migrated to Paris and established a printshop there. He specialized in artworks based on medieval manuscripts but did lithos of paintings and ancient architectural works as well.