Recollections

I think of Juana often, and her memory remains undiminishedly vivid. And that word – vivid – seems the best to evoke so many things about her: her crisp slightly accented speech with its medley of languages; the clear, bright colors she liked to wear; the keen cobalt glance; and most of all her opinions – her palpable intellectual presence. Even though by the time we met she was in her mid-fifties, her hair had faded to a warm ashen grey, and she had lost the high coloring that must have been hers as a young woman, the impact of her physical presence was quite undiminished I think, and one couldn't help but be aware of its authentic potency as well as the vigor of her opinions and reactions in any situation that caught her interest. I think of her as having been tall but perhaps it was just that she carried herself so erectly and occupied space with such energy and assurance

Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Visual arts · Early Modern Women Writers · Psychology · Spanish Literature and Culture Studies