This extraordinary scene from the life of Saint Teresa of Avila has given rise to manifold interpretations throughout the history of art, primarily in the Baroque period, when the Church’s determination to spread its teachings led it to foster scenes imbued with great dynamism and emotional power.

This nun was born in Avila in 1515 and named a Doctor of the Catholic Church because of her perseverance in the faith and her dynamic personality, always working at the service of the Discalced Carmelites order, a reformed branch of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel order she belonged to. Her writings, suffused with deep wisdom and spirituality, are still recognised today for their power and validity.

This superb sculpture group both delicately and masterfully records the moment when the angel appeared to St Teresa, an episode which the saint narrated in her work The Book of Her Life (XXIX, 13):

“Our Lord was pleased that I should have at times a vision of this kind: I saw an angel close by me, on my left side, in bodily form. This I am not accustomed to see, unless very rarely (…) It was our Lord’s will that in this vision I should see the angel in this wise. He was not large, but small of stature, and most beautiful—his face burning, as if he were one of the highest angels, who seem to be all of fire: they must be those whom we call cherubim. Their names they never tell me; (…) I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron’s point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart and to pierce my very entrails.”

The figures are arranged on a plinth which may possibly have been reused, given that its rough finish contrasts with the refined depiction of the characters. However, it does contain decorative intentions in the concave centre, imitating tortoiseshell.

The authorship of the piece is still under investigation. Manuel Arias Martínez suggested a possible connection with the précieuse production of early eighteenth century Guatemalan sculpture. The glass eyes of the two figures as well as the angel’s garments, rendered with the glued cloth technique are customary features of the imagery of the time. The hands of the saint are made with utmost fineness and her face conveys the dramatic quality of the experience she is going through. The angel, who has lost the spear that originally pierced St Teresa’s heart, is depicted in a pose full of movement, highly characteristic of this period, as are the hues of the flesh in the faces of the two characters.

During restoration of the piece it was discovered that the saint’s habit had been re-polychromed in a previous intervention carried out in the past.