La imagen religiosa en la Monarquía Hispánica publishes papers presented at a 2005 symposium on the religious image in Spain and its territories during the early modern period. Scholars from various disciplines approached this seemingly well-trodden topic in richly nuanced and innovative ways. The wealth of new documentary evidence, the new readings of contemporary accounts and literary texts from various genres, the range of types and quality of images discussed, and the variety of contexts examined — conventual, courtly, urban, and domestic — in Spain and in the New World make this anthology a particularly valuable addition to the burgeoning field of Spanish and Spanish colonial studies.

In the first part, “Imagen conventual,” Alfonso Rodríguez G. de Ceballos proposes that the great hagiographic cycles of monastic and conventual paintings in Spain and the New World were intended for a more public audience than for their members, and were meant to demonstrate the history and differences of their orders. He explains that these cycles became increasingly widespread after the Council of Trent, when images of saints were promoted, and after Urban VIII's Brevi, which initiated a new process for canonization. Bonaventura Bassegoda analyzes two autograph versions of Cano's La predicación de San Vicente Ferrer and reveals the presence of Savonorola, which had previously gone unnoticed. Bassegoda explains Savonarola's inclusion in regards to the Dominicans of Valencia, who repeatedly defended Savonarola's innocence. Cécile Vincent-Cassy explores the cycle of twenty-five martyrs in the upper cloister of the Royal Convent of the Encarnación in Madrid. She links the cycle to one by Il Pomarancio's in the Jesuit church of the German-Hungarian college in Rome. The author examines what changes were made from the original and explains them in terms of the differences in the intended audiences. Françoise Crémoux reconstructs the representation, diffusion, and reception of the image of the Virgin as a form of advertising for the monastery of Guadalupe. María Cruz de Carlos Varona examines Simón de Rojas' career and reputation in terms of his promotion of the cult of the Virgen de la Expectación, which was meant to aid women during pregnancy and childbirth, in seventeenth-century Madrid.

In the second part, “Politicas de la imagen,” Bernadette Majorana analyzes three accounts (relaciones) of festivities in Milan and considers how the texts were meant to recreate for the reader the multiple sensory experiences of the festivities. Ruth Olaizola studies the function of imagery in the context of Jesuit colleges by examining the accounts of the theatrical performances held in Mexico, Madrid, and Toledo from 1622 to 1681. Fernando Quiles explores the successful and failed cases of four religious figures brought forward for canonization by the diocese of Seville. Angel Aterido takes issue with the neglect in art historical scholarship in exploring the relationships between sculpture and painting in the seventeenth century and cites two chapels, that of Cristo de la Buena Muerte in the Imperial College and that of Cristo de los Dolores in the Venerable Orden Tercera (both in Madrid). Luisa Elena Alcalá examines the functions and varying appearances of copies of the Madonna di Loreto sent to Mexico, focusing, in particular, on the white Virgin of Loreto in the Jesuit church in Tepotzotlán. She publishes a new document that indicates that the Jesuits were responsible for “whitening” the originally dark skin tones of the Virgin and seeks to understand their motivations for doing so.

In the third part, “La Imagen en la Calle,” María José del Río Barredo brings to light extensive archival discoveries that document the abundance of religious images on the streets of seventeenth-century Madrid, and the functions, festivities, and legislation that centered around these images. Elena Sánchez de Madariaga examines the formation and diffusion of the cult of the Virgen de la Soledad and studies its subsequent cult formation and popularity. Javier Portús looks at the many copies made of particularly venerated images and explores the relationships between artistic aspirations and the seemingly inherent failure of copies of sacred images.

Finally, in the fourth part, “Imagen y devoción privada,” Frédéric Cousinié seeks to understand the relationship between devotional art and viewer, based on religious literature, guidebooks, and hagiographies. Lizzie Boubli examines the influence of Loyola's Spirtual Exercises in a particular case study, that of the “picture within a picture” formula employed in Antonio de Pereda's illustrations for David de la Vigne's Espejo de la Buena Muerte (1646). She explores how this pictorial formula sustained the complex relationship between viewer and image, which Loyola advised as a means by which the faithful could experience spiritual ascent. One of the most valuable essays in the anthology is Sara Nalle's, which presents quantitative analyses, of media and of subject matter, of works of art that appear in over 600 wills between 1505 and 1645 in Cuenca. Her analysis of the data is careful and nuanced, and the results of her research are surprising (for example, 70 percent of the collectors of devotional art were female).

The essays are unfortunately poorly illustrated. Many of the images are far too small, they are all in black and white, and some are so dark they are illegible. This is especially disappointing since some less familiar works were included, and often points in the essays demanded a closer look at the image. However, the merits of this anthology far outweigh this issue, and scholars of Spanish studies from many disciplines will find the essays and the new research they present a valuable trove of information.