Symbolic death. Painting presenting allegory of Silence and Crucified Nun from Beaterium of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in St. Blaise Parish in Cusco
The article presents a painting which has never been reproduced or publicly displayed before. The work comes from the Beaterium of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in St. Blaise Parish in Cusco. It is a two-sided representation. The ob- verse side contains a figure of a nun in a Carmelite habit, who puts his hand to his mouth and orders silence, which is communicated not only by the gestu- re, but also by the inscription accompanying the representation. On the rever- se side we can see an image of a crucified nun. The painting used to function as a door leading to the novitiate, which could be established based on the archi- val photo. The article describes iconography of the work, as well as the sources for most of the inscriptions that accompany the images. The painting is presen- ted in a broader historical and cultural context of Cusco Beaterium functioning.