The life of Juana de la Concepción is known mainly through the writings of the English Dominican friar Thomas Gage (1602-1656).
Early life Sister Juana was born Juana de Maldonado y Paz in 1598 in Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala. She was the only daughter of Juan de Maldonado y Paz, who was an
oidor (judge) of the
Real Audiencia, and Concepción de Quintanilla; she had one brother named Diego. Her mother died when she was very young. De Maldonado's education surpassed the typical for women of this era. De Maldonado's early life was shaped by a controversy over a portrait of her and her family. Between 1611 and 1613, the Guatemalan painter Francisco Montúfar painted her as
Saint Lucia, together with her father as
Saint John the Baptist and her cousin Pedro Pardo as
Saint Stephen. The painting was planted in altars and carried in processions. This generated a scandal in the city. In 1615, Rodrigo de Villegas (the canon of the
Antigua Cathedral of Guatemala and representative of the Santo Oficio in Guatemala) reported them to Felipe Ruiz del Corral, the commissioner of the
Spanish Inquisition in Mexico, as having committed a sacrilege. He alleged that de Maldonado was of illegitimate birth, and that it was improper for her to be depicted as a saint. De Maldonado's father showed the Inquisition tribunal that the complaint was motivated by a desire for personal revenge, given that he had previously reported Villegas and sent him to prison. . It was destroyed by the
Earthquake of Santa Marta in 1773; the
Volcán de Agua is visible behind its ruins.
Entry into the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception De Maldonado decided to seclude herself in a convent and to become a nun, which allowed her to devote herself fully to artistic and intellectual activities. She entered as a
novice in the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (Monasterio de la Inmaculada Concepción de María) ― today known as the Convent of the Conception (Convento de la Concepción) ― in Santiago de los Caballeros. She took her vows there on December 27, 1619, taking the name Sister Juana de la Concepción. She did not pay a
dowry upon entering the monastery, as was typical at the time, possibly because her services as a musician were used to exempt her from payment. The convent of the
Order of the Immaculate Conception was the first institution for religious women in Guatemala, founded in 1578 by an abbot and three nuns from the convent of Mexico. For thirty years, it was the only female monastery in the region. According to chronicler Thomas Gage, who visited Santiago many years later, the church of the convent ― situated today in the exit of Antigua Guatemala ― had a valuable collection of art. During this period, around 1,000 women lived in the convent, including nuns, novices, maids, and slaves. The father of Sister Juana built her living quarters inside the convent that were known for their opulence; the blueprint has survived. In the 17th century there were two types of nuns:
discalced (descalza) and urban (urbanista); Sister Juana was an urban nun. Sister Juana's quarters were always full of poets, painters and writers, who were attracted by her beauty and fascinating personality. She is reputed to have had the best collection of musical instruments in the city, a complete library, and a lavish private chapel. Her life of art and erudición was known throughout Santiago. The Guatemalan writer
Máximo Soto Hall, in his 1938
biographical novel about Sister Juana, called her "The Divine Recluse". The most distinguished figures of the city, including the bishop friar
Juan de Zapata y Sandoval, gathered in her quarters for musical and literary entertainment. In the 18th century, a small baroque palace was constructed over Sister Juana's house within the convent; this palace was restored in the 21st century. Sister Juana's father was called to serve the Spanish Crown in Mexico, leaving his daughter in Guatemala in 1636. During this period, Sister Juana experienced economic hardship; she could not pay the dowry to the convent and did not have money to pay for candles for her living quarters and sacristy. After efforts by her father and based on the merits of both her and her father, the Crown decided to award her an annual pension of 500 tostones (silver coins) to cover her expenses. Thomas Gage reported in 1648 that Juan de Zapata y Sandoval, one of Sister Juana's admirers, appointed her as the convent's abbess ― passing over nuns of greater merit and age ― and that this caused a scandal in the convent. However, there is no reliable documentation of this supposed occurrence. The evidence indicates that the 1632 appointment of another nun, Sister Juana de la Trinidad, as abbess was canceled by then-bishop Agustín Ugarte y Savaria, who arrived in Guatemala that year, on the grounds that it had not been properly documented by the convent. There is also one document showing Sister Juana's status as an abbess as of 1665. As an abbess, Sister Juana was responsible for reporting the convent's activities periodically to the bishop, and for requesting permissions from the bishop.
Illness and death At the beginning of 1665, before being appointed abbess, Sister Juana fell ill and requested permission to sell a slave belonging to her to pay costs she had incurred. Similarly, she pawned a diamond in 1667 to pay money she owed to the convent. Despite conflicting reports about the year of Sister Juana's death, the most recent research places her death in 1666. In late 1668, the convent's new abbes wrote to the bishop to inform him of the sale of the quarters that had been the property of Sister Juana's father; the sale was motivated by the need to pay Sister Juana's debts left after her death. == Historicity ==