Mystical passionflower. Iconological analysis of a baroque painting of the Virgin of Mercy

Abstract

 A particular colonial painting of the Virgin of Mercy, composed by her half body «emerging» from an exotic and colorful flower motivates this iconological research. The analysis goes from floral symbolisms in the evangelization process to the specific connotations of two flowers: the rose, because of this painting’s iconographic similarities with the Mystical Rose, and the passionflower, as a possible identification of the flower represented. The confluence of indigenous and european elements, as a creative process of interpenetration, not only evidences the miscegenation of 18th century culture, but also opens interesting possibilities in decoding colonial religious art.