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that the reviews fail tomentioncanbe seenwhen the text is read. I don’t think it has caused the scandal thatwas expected despite thenoisemadeby theauthor in theopeningpagesof thebook. V Friar Juande laMiseria. Thismonthcelebrated the5th Centenaryof thebirthof Saint Teresa, TeresadeCepeda yAhumada (Goterrendura28.III.1515 - AlbadeTormes 4.X.1582). This is the idealmoment to look at thewritings of this exceptionwoman, writer,mystic, businesswoman, founder, princessof theCounter-Reformationand somany other things. In short, therearenovelsonher life, novel stories, conjectures, inventions, just as there shouldbeabout an extraordinary figure from the16thcentury, witha lifeandwork that is universally applicable. It is likely that her conditionof Saint has relegatedher importanceas awriter and founder ofmonasteries and rules and soon. For this reason, and toavoid ramblingand stick to specificdetails, theonly thing I recommend is it read herwritings: TheBook of Foundations , Life or TheRouteof Perfection ; her poetry and letters. Itwouldbequiteunfair tonot mention thenameof Friar Juande laMiseria, a laybrother andpainter whopainted theonly liveportrait of theÁvila saint. He is theprinceor her iconography. He ismentionedby the writer inher Book of Foundations, bySánchezCantón ina study Doña Leonor deMascarenhas y Fray Juan de laMiseria , Boletínde laSociedad EspañoladeExcursiones, 1918, where theexcellent portrait of Philip II’sgoverness is attributed tohim. But thepersonwhohaspaidhimmost heedwas theAugustinemonkP. Ángel CustodioVega, whopublished Friar Juande laMiseria (FromPainter toMystic) in theBoletíndeaReal Academiade laHistoria, of whichhe was amember. In thebrief treatise I havewrittenby theauthor, P. Custodiomakes abrief summary of what he knows about the friar’s lifeandwork, andpublishes Letter for aNun and AutobiographicWritings onFriar Juande laMiseria (orWays of Praying andContemplating that I had). According toP. Custodio, Friar Juande laMiseria, ‘real name’ JuanNarduch, wasborn inNaples around1526, andwanted tobecomeaFranciscanmonk, butwasn’t allowed in. Spanish, he learnt sculptureandpainting. He travelled toSantiagode Compostelaonapilgrimageand thenwanted to return to Naples fromBarcelona, butwas unableand left for Plasencia, JaénandTardón, wherehemet P.Mariano, hismaster. The latter tookhim toMadrid, wherehewas apupil of Sánchez Coello, ‘acourtesyof DoñaLeonor’, according toCathleen Medick, whodescribes himas a ‘small, extravagantman’. He wouldgoon toaccompany hismaster toSeville, wherehe painted theSaint in1576. Thenhemovedon toPastranaand Madrid, endinghisdays inPastrana in1616at theageof 90. He is considereda spiritual, yet uneducatedand thickman; but hisworks, either knownor attributed, point toadifferent sideof him. Neither theportrait of Teresa isbad, nor is the portrait ofMascarenhas. They lack character. P. Custodio studies them viawritings, but forme thepainting is seeking anaturalismwitha far fromnegligible skill and virtue. The iconographyof theSaint is headedupby theportrait of Friar Juande laMiseria inGianLorenzoBernini’s Transverberation , in theCornarochapel of SantaMariadellaVictoria inRome. and…VI Addendum. Whenwehave to insist on theobvious, things arenot goingas they should.Whopays for this luxurious and beautifulmagazine?What do thepeoplewhomake it liveoff? Not off dreamsbut their subscribers, readers andadvertisers, who think it stimulating toappear in its content.Why should culturebe free?Nothing shouldbe free, even if it ispublic! It’s not that public things have tobeaprofitablebusiness, not at all, but there is nootherway tomakepeople respect shared publiccontent thatmaking themunderstandwhat it costs. Andprivatecontent, wecando that by submitting it to the lawsof supply anddemand. If weexpel culture fromour liveswe submit ourselves to living chained, without freedom, and that is theworst of all possibleoutcomes.We have to read, question, know, dissent or agreewith knowledgeof cause.With reason. Andwehave todefend whateverwe lifewithout paying attention to fashionsor the manipulated impositionsof others.We have tobecondescendingand tolerant, but not servilenor submission withwhatever injuresour senseof freedom. I am liberal because I put justicebeforeall. A liberal leaves space for other, they know that not everything possible is legitimate. Ahbeauty! such anold thing, of course…if we swap it for fascination, wearealready postmodern, we’re socool! Readinggives us elements tocreate andopinion, andwecannot opinewithout havinganopinion, and sadlywedonot know, neither canwe know, about everything. Bookshops arewindowsopen toculture, but bookshops needbook connoisseur professionals, not just salespeople. They can readwhatever they like: noir , ThePriest and theMandarins , poetry, comics, TheLifeof SantaTeresa , Azorín , magazines, newspapers, whatever theyplease; but they have to read, thehabit is important. Onpaper or on screen, it doesn’tmatter, as longas they feed their intellectual curiosity, they intensify thedesire to know, tocompete, to contrast. TheFrenchpoet, YvesBonnefoy says: ‘Contemporary conceptual discoursemakes us liveon the surfaceof things, but poetry is not under threat. Thepoeticego takes us to the depthsof theworld, but does not forget finiteness, thatwe aremortal, thatwe live in time. Thepoeticexperience should bepersonal andcanbeproduced in the individual. And these individuals canhelp society to renew itself’. TomásParedes Santa Teresade Jesus/ Saint Teresa of Jesus . Bustodemármol blanco, obrade la joven escultoraNuria Torres Whitemarblebust by the young sculptor Nuria Torres. 35