INSIDE the MUSEUM SPANISH NEW ORLEANS

By Christy Jackson Zurcher ’00

Five Pieces Of 1772 Ecclesiastical Vestments

Created by Spanish Ursulines in 1772, during the Spanish Colonial period, these vestments were embroidered in pure silver, gold, and silk and were used for almost 200 years.

Statue Of The Scourged Christ

This statue of our Lord, referred to as the Christ of Humility and Patience, is a prime example of Spanish craftsmanship from the Spanish Colonial period. It is a gift given to the Sisters by an early Spanish governor (post 1763-1800) of Louisiana.

The Ursuline Convent Museum, located on the Academy’s State Street campus, houses many unique items - some of which have become popular resources for other museums around the country. In the 1750s when the French lost Louisiana Territory to the Treaty of Paris, Spanish governance took over. Through this new governance came an influx of Spanish Ursulines who brought with them a love for visual arts, poetry, literature, and music. Some of their work, found inside the campus museum, is on display in the Historic New Orleans Collection’s “Spanish New Orleans and the Caribbean” through February 2023.

18th Century Clock

This clock was given to the Sisters by Bishop Penalver y Cardenas when he left for Cuba. He left with the other Spanish clergy and religious, fearing French retribution following a secret treaty Spain made with Napoleon to return the Louisiana Territory to France following the French and Indian War. It was their mutually agreed upon goal for the powerful French Republic to keep the Mississippi River out of the hands of the British and the Americans.