Founded in Manila in 1750, the Beaterio de Santa Rosa was one of the earliest religious institutions established for Filipino and mestiza women, offering education and a structured devotional life at a time when such opportunities were rare. The madre, or mother superior, oversaw the community, while the pupila, or pupil, represented the young women under its care.
José Honorato Lozano documented these figures as part of his watercolor illustrations of Philippine social life, a body of work produced in the mid-nineteenth century that parallels the Tipos del País tradition in its attention to costume, occupation, and social type. The Madre del Beaterio de Santa Rosa y una Pupila depicts the mother superior and her pupil in the dress of their institution, capturing both their religious vocation and the role of the beaterio in colonial society. Lozano worked primarily in Manila and produced illustrations that served as visual records of Philippine society for both local and foreign audiences. His work is considered among the most detailed and culturally specific visual documentation of the Philippines in the Spanish colonial period.
This print preserves a record of women's religious life and education within the Spanish colonial period.
Available as a fine art print
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