Isabel de Santiago (Real audiencia de Quito, circa 1660/1670 - 1714) “Tota Pulchra”. Oil on canvas. 77 x 69 cm. Exquisite portrayal of the Immaculate Virgin Mary ascending to heaven, surrounded by a crown of flowers, painted with the perfection of a renowned female painter from Quito, with the sensitivity of a woman with great taste in painting, Isabel De Santiago. This painting reflects the “Tota Pulchra es María” (All Beautiful) very well . Tota Pulchra is an ancient catholic prayer thought to have been written in the 4th century. It is one of the five antiphons for the psalms of the second vespers of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8th. The text is taken partly from the Book of Judith and partly from the Song of Songs. With a golden background that speaks of the divinity of Mary, the artist decorates the scene in seventeenth-century taste with flowers, giving cheer to the image. She Who Ascends, Enlightened and All Beautiful is the faithful reflection of the text of Revelation, 12: u1-6, “a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman wrapped in the sun with the moon under her feet, and on her head, a crown of twelve stars”. This painting shows exquisite taste for art reflected in each brushstroke, as Isabel de Santiago was the daughter of the famous painter Miguel de Santiago, from whom she would inherit her gifts and qualities for art, besides being one of the very few women who achieved recognition in the era of development of Spanish-American viceroyalty art. The artist was attracted to painting from a very young age, a passion she shared also with her second husband. She began to train and work in Santiago's workshop as a teenager. She would later become its the owner and worked there with her husband. She was widowed in the early 1700s and in 1706 she continued painting until the day of her death, which occurred in Quito in 1714. She was buried in the Convent of La Merced, near her home. This convent is where her best known painting is found, the postumous portrait she painted of Sister Juana de Jesús, a Poor Clare nun, to whom they attributed the saintly behavior. This episode, recounted by biographer Francisco Javier Antonio de Santa María, reinforces Isabel's singular talent. After the nun's death, her husband Antonio Egas, unable to paint the portrait, delegated the task to Isabel, who managed to capture the essence of Sor Juana based solely on her memory. This fact evidences not only Isabel's technical skill, but also her capacity for empathy and spiritual understanding, qualities that are also reflected in our Tota Pulchra, where the figure of the Virgin exudes unequaled serenity and majesty. In the painting that we describe we see her personal stylistic marks, floral beauty, the luminosity conveyed in each brushstroke and the presence of minuscule details, almost like those seen under a magnifying glass, which are always present in all her artworks. This painting is very reminiscent of two others of hers: “Our Lady of Roses”, which she painted for the convent of Santo Domingo, and “Our Lady of Flowers”, which is in the Colonial Art Museum of Quito. There is also a painting of the Archangel Saint Gabriel in which the flowers and gilded decoration underline the celestion majesty of the subject, just like the painting we have here. This painting is also a canvas worthy to be placed in any museum. The use of gold by Isabel de Santiago, applied on large surfaces and in minute detail, gives her works an unusual brilliance even within the context of the Quito School, where gold was common but rarely used with such delicacy. Her life, marked by humility and devotion, reflects the silent but constant struggle of the women artists of her time, who managed to transcend gender barriers and leave a lasting legacy. In Tota Pulchra, Isabel de Santiago not only depicts the Virgin as Queen of Heaven, but also reveals herself as a visionary artist, capable of capturing a deeply spiritual vision of art.   Reference bibliography:  - Martín Martín, Inmaculada. (2010). “El pintor quiteño Miguel de Santiago (1633-1706)”: Universidad de Sevilla. - Martín Martín, Inmaculada. (2007). “Leyendas de un artista. A propósito del pintor quiteño Miguel de Santiago”. Publicado en: “De Arte” N.º 6. “Isabel de Santiago: una pintora quiteña del siglo XVII” Inmaculada Martín Martín.Publicado en: “De Arte” N.º 7, 2008. - Escudero-Albornoz, Ximena y Escudero de Teránz, Ximena. (1992). “América y España en la escultura colonial quiteña: historia de un sincretismo”. Ediciones del Banco de los Andes. - Borchart de Morenoz, Christiana Renate. (1998). “La Audiencia de Quito: aspectos económicos y sociales (siglos XVI-XVIII)”. Editorial Abya Yala.