Acknowledgments

Black, Charlene Villaseñor

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Acknowledgments

Charlene Villaseñor Black

Creating the Cult of St. Joseph: Art and Gender in the Spanish Empire

~ACKNOWLEDGING THOSE who offered assistance during the process of writing this book, as well as the various institutions that provided financial backing and other aid, is a highlight of the writing endeavor. I am grateful to the following organizations for their support of this study: the Millard Meiss Publication Committee of the College Art Association, the Andrew W....

Author

Charlene Villaseñor Black

PublisherPrinceton University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22056

Acknowledgments

Acknowledging those who offered assistance during the process of writing this book, as well as the various institutions that provided financial backing and other aid, is a highlight of the writing endeavor. I am grateful to the following organizations for their support of this study: the Millard Meiss Publication Committee of the College Art Association, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the UCLA Humanities Consortium and Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Charlotte W. Newcombe and Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundations, the American Society for Hispanic Art Historical Studies, the Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain’s Ministry of Culture and United States’ Universities, and the Fulbright Agency. My home institution, the University of California, Los Angeles, provided Academic Senate and Assistant Professor Initiative Grants. While at the University of New Mexico I received two travel subsidies and a Research Allocations Committee Faculty Grant. Michigan State University’s Department of Art and Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies provided research travel support. Several awards from the University of Michigan supported my research during the dissertation phase, including the Rackham Merit Fellowship, the Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, the Nathan T. Whitman Fellowship for Excellence in Graduate Studies in the History of Art, and a year-long residency at the Institute for the Humanities.

This project would not have been possible without the expert help of museum personnel, archivists, and library staff in Spain and Mexico. Individuals at the following institutions in Madrid facilitated my research: the Museo del Prado; the Biblioteca Nacional; the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Centro de Estudios Históricos, Departamento de Historia del Arte; the Archivo Histórico Nacional; and the Biblioteca Francisco de Zabálburu y Basabe. My work in Seville was a pleasure due to knowledgable and helpful staff at the Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla, the Archivo General del Arzobispado, the Archivo de la Catedral, the Biblioteca de la Universidad de Sevilla, and the Archivo Municipal. Several individuals stand out in my mind for their interest in my project, including Manuela Mena and Mercedes Orihuela of the Museo del Prado; Margarita Estella Marcos, Isabel Mateo Gómez, Amelia López, and Enrique Anglés of the C.S.I.C.; Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez; Rocío Izquierdo of the Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla; Enrique Valdivieso González and Juan Miguel Serrera of the Universidad de Sevilla; María Isabel González Ferrín of the Cathedral archive; and Carmen Calderón Berrocal of the Archivo del Arzobispado. I was granted access to the private collection of the Conde de Ibarra and allowed to view the spectacular retablo of Juan Martinez Montañés in the Monastery of San Jerónimo in Santiponce, thanks to Fernando Alberto Álvarez de Toledo Meneos and the Fundación Casa Álvarez de Toledo. I extend my heartfelt thanks to Matilde Melgarejo Ochoa of Seville for her help in these matters. Montserrat Blanch and Eulàlia Almuzara of the Institut Amatller d’Art Hispànic (Arxiu Mas) of Barcelona have been a tremendous help in locating photographs on my behalf. In Valladolid, Teófanes Egido, whose pioneering studies of St. Joseph have served as an inspiration, kindly provided access to the Biblioteca del Centro de Estudios Josefinos in the Convento de San Benito.

I enjoyed no less generous and expert help in Mexico, in particular at the Biblioteca Nacional de México, the Biblioteca de México, the Archivo General de la Nación, the Pinacoteca Virreinal de San Diego, the Museo Virreinal de Tepotzotlán, the Universidad de las Américas, and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México’s Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas. In Mexico City, the former director of the Pinacoteca Virreinal de San Diego, Virginia Armella de Aspe, and her staff provided expert help. In Puebla, Miguel Celorio offered me both his warm hospitality and sage counsel. In Mexico City, José Carlos Carrillo Ojeda, M.J., director of the Centro Mexicano de Estudios Josefinos and noted historian of the cult of St. Joseph, opened his archive’s doors to me.

Several specialists in the field in the United States provided useful commentary at various stages of this project. I benefited from excellent training as a graduate student at the University of Michigan. My dissertation advisor, R. Ward Bissell, was an exemplary mentor who guided me with wisdom and respect. The other members of my dissertation committee, Celeste Brusati, Nathan Whitman, and Louise Stein, also deserve my gratitude for their judicious advice and support, as does Luisa López Grigera, professor emerita of the University of Michigan’s Spanish Department, who assisted me in reading Josephine texts. A number of art historians took the time to comment on my project, helping me to refine its direction. They include Jonathan Brown, Marcus Burke, Claire Farago, Valerie Fraser, David Kowal, Mindy Nancarrow, Steven Orso, Jeanette Peterson, Edward Sullivan, Janis Tomlinson, the late Eleanor Tufts, and Christopher Wilson. I benefited from the advice of several historians, namely Jodi Bilinkoff, J. H. Elliott, Linda Hall, Richard Kagan, Mary Elizabeth Perry, and Javier Pescador. My former colleague and comrade-in-arms at the University of New Mexico Geoffrey Batchen asked important theoretical questions that sharpened my thinking. My friend, mentor, and colleague Cecelia Klein, whose groundbreaking work on gender in pre-Columbian art has been an inspiration, posed challenging questions about the exact links between art and social contexts. I also owe debts of gratitude to my students, whose enthusiasm for art history inspires me. Two former students at the University of New Mexico, now professionals in their own right, made important contributions to this project: Felipe Mirabal and Kelly Donahue-Wallace. Four outstanding graduate student research assistants at UCLA, Elena Shtromberg, Maya Stanfield-Mazzi, Lauren Grace Kilroy, and Yasmine Beale-Rosano helped me complete this project.

Working with Princeton University Press has been a great pleasure. My editors, Hanne Winarsky and Nancy Grubb, combined scholarly acumen with a warm personal touch. I am also grateful to the other members of the art group at Princeton: Cynthia Grow, Sarah Henry, Sara Lerner, Devra K. Nelson, Ken Wong, and Kate Zanzucchi. Through them I was able to work with a wonderful copyeditor, Jonathan Munk. I would like to extend special thanks to the two scholars who read my manuscript, the historian Mary Elizabeth Perry and the art historian Mindy Nancarrow. I was honored that two such distinguished readers evaluated my work, especially since their own pioneering research on gender in Spain has been so formative with regard to my own development. Their helpful critiques significantly improved the final product.

Several friends provided support, editing, and advice. In Ann Arbor, they included Jane Chung, Carmen Lord, Julia Perlman, Mayra Rodríguez, and Laurie Winters, as well as my dissertation group, Katharine Burnett, Molly Lindner, and Rita Goodman. I would also like to thank several fellow researchers and friends in Madrid, including Paul Allen, Loli Bajo, Javier Durán Barceló, Marisa Fernández del Amo López Gil and her family, Larry Furr, Liz Lehfeldt, Felipe Pereda, and Marina Pinto. During my two-year tenure in Albuquerque, Connie Baca enriched my life in manifold ways. In Los Angeles, Helene Bernstein, George Gluz, and their family provided endless diversion as we explored southern California. Sharon Gerstel’s arrival at UCLA enriched my life immeasurably. How fortunate I am to be able to share the joys and challenges of single motherhood with her. I would also like to thank my family, and especially my sisters, for their patience, humor, and support during this long process.

I owe my greatest debt of gratitude to my son Joseph, born during the genesis of this book. Thanks, mi chiquito, for keeping me focused on the important things in life. Your love, unbridled joy, enthusiasm, inquisitiveness, creativity, and boundless energy delight me every day. May you grow up to share the virtues attributed to your name saint.

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