Kloostergang van het Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo c. 1857 - 1880

Juan Laurent captured this albumen print of the cloister of the Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo. It’s a place commissioned by Queen Isabella I of Castile to commemorate the birth of her son and to serve as a royal mausoleum. Laurent, a Frenchman operating in Spain, documented its architectural grandeur in the mid-19th century. The image invites reflection on the intertwined nature of power, religion, and identity. The monastery itself was meant to project the power and piety of the Spanish monarchy and the Catholic Church during a period of intense religious and political change. Consider the role gender plays here. Isabella, a powerful female monarch, uses this space to solidify her legacy and that of her dynasty, yet the monastery's architecture is steeped in traditionally masculine symbols of power and religious authority. How might this tension between female patronage and masculine representation shape our understanding of the space and the photograph?