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Exhibition Highlight: Isabella de Spiritu Sancto, Recreationen. Manuscript, autograph ca. 1670
By
Natalie Koch
October 15, 2025
'RecreationenManuscript, Isabella de Spiritu Sancto, ca. 1670.
Exhibition Highlight: Isabella de Spiritu Sancto, Recreationen. Manuscript, autograph ca. 1670
'RecreationenManuscript, Isabella de Spiritu Sancto, ca. 1670.
Exhibition Highlight: Isabella de Spiritu Sancto, Recreationen. Manuscript, autograph ca. 1670
By
Natalie Koch
October 15, 2025
A special treat for lovers of beautifully crafted manuscripts is now on display in the Reading Room of the Embassy of the Free Mind: Recreationen, by Isabella de Spiritu Sancto. Isabella of the Holy Spirit was the convent name of Charlotta de Urquina (1606-1675), prioress and founder of the Carmelite convent in Cologne. In a personal testimony, she describes a powerful vision of the Holy Trinity that recurred repeatedly over a period of six months.
Not only a mystic, but also a true artist blessed with a rich imagination and a great sense of humour, she created the so-called ‘Books of the Heart’, featuring emblems in which the human is personified by a heart with eyes, hands and feet. Occasionally, the heart looks through a telescope which is inverted: instead of the soul looking out, all of Creation is looking in, thus symbolizing the soul’s union with God.
The Heart Books were never printed; Isabella produced one black-and-white version and a colourful display version on parchment, especially for Count Carolus von Paar, a benefactor of the convent. This latter version is now on display in our museum until the end of November, a rare occurrence, since this book is part of the BPH Collection that is housed at the Allard Pierson special collections archive at the University of Amsterdam.
Written by
Natalie Koch
Natalie Koch is a musicologist, Dutch novelist, and curator at the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica. Published by Querido, her work spans from Victorian London to contemporary Holland. Stargazer, absinthe-lover, restless spirit.
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