St. Rose of Lima (Detail; K 48) Metal Tree Decoration

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 stylised portrait, St. Rose is clad in a Dominican habit consisting of a white wimple, cream-coloured scapular over a belted robe of the same colour, 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 not visible here). In her right hand, she holds a spray of lilies indicating her status as a consecrated virgin. In the background is a tropical Peruvian landscape. + 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): Detail of an 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 specialised in artworks based on mediaeval manuscripts but did lithos of paintings and ancient architectural works as well.