Sor Juana a los 15 años J. Sánchez Fine Art Card

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, J. Sánchez, 1666. Egg tempera on canvas. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (12 November 1651 – 17 April 1695), was a self-taught scholar and poet of the Baroque school, and Hieronymite nun of New Spain. Although she lived in a colonial era when Mexico was part of the Spanish Empire, she is considered today both a Mexican writer and a contributor to the Spanish Golden Age, and she stands at the beginning of the history of Mexican literature in the Spanish language. She learned how to read and write at the age of three. By age five, she reportedly could do accounts. At age eight, she composed a poem on the Eucharist. By adolescence, she had mastered Greek logic, and at age thirteen she was teaching Latin to young children. She also learned the Aztec language of Nahuatl, and wrote some short poems in that language. In 1664, aged 16, Juana was sent to live in Mexico City. She asked her mother's permission to disguise herself as a male student so that she could enter the university there. Not being allowed to do this, she continued her studies privately. She came under the tutelage of the Vicereine Leonor Carreto, wife of the Viceroy Antonio Sebastián de Toledo. The viceroy, wishing to test the learning and intelligence of this 17 year old, invited several theologians, jurists, philosophers, and poets to a meeting, during which she had to answer, unprepared, many questions, and explain several difficult points on various scientific and literary subjects. The manner in which she acquitted herself astonished all present, and greatly increased her reputation. Her literary accomplishments garnered her fame throughout New Spain. She was much admired in the viceregal court, and declined several proposals of marriage. In 1667, she entered the Monastery of St. Joseph, a community of the Discalced Carmelite nuns, as a postulant. She chose not to enter that Order, and later, in 1669, she entered the monastery of the Hieronymite nuns. She died after ministering to other nuns stricken during a plague, on 17 April 1695. Her most popular poem is Hombres necios (foolish men), an attack on men for their behaviour toward women - trying to seduce them, then calling them cold if they are rejected and loose women if the women give in.