Jose de Paez (Mexico City, 1727 - circa 1790)

Jose de Paez (Mexico City, 1727 - circa 1790) "Immaculate Conception" Oil on canvas. 124 x 94 cm. José de Páez was a painter who was active mainly between 1750 and 1780. According to Madrid's Museum of the Americas, "he created models of great sweetness, idealisedbeauty, oval faces, [and] was an excellent portraitist." He developedmainly religious themes with an interest in caste painting as well. He was the preferred painter of religious orders such as the Franciscans, the Bethlehemites, and the Oratorians and carried out numerous commissions for them. Given his very extensive production of universal themes, it is understood that he developed some lines of his work without commissionsbut in the knowledge that he hada solid market of buyers for his artworks. Amongst his preserved works, highlights include the paintings on copper"Divine Shepherd" and "Our Lady ofLoreto" atthe Museum of the Americas in Madrid; the "Medallion of a friar with the Nativity" and "Saint John of Nepomek" at theLACMA; the "Our Lady of Mercy" in the Blaisten Museum; and the ten paintings from the "Cycle of the Life of the Virgin Mary" from 1772 that were restored between 2015 and 2016 and are located in the sanctuary of Guadalupe in Chihuahua, Mexico. As a result of this restoration project, a very interesting analysis of José de Páez's technical procedure was carried out. According to Yana Arantxa Ramírez's detailed report, the painter enjoyed great success in his lifetime, which was later diminished by widespread disdain for 18th-century painting. Now, "in recent decades there has been an effort to vindicate 18th-century painting." Thus, Magdalena Castañeda, who was in charge of the restoration of Páez's works, proposed a new approach to his artistic personality in her master's thesis and concluded that the Mexican was "a restless artist, with a discursive effectiveness that allowed him to sell works inside and even outside of New Spain." In thepainting we have here, the artist followed the image that prevailed in both Spain and New Spain during the second half of the 17th century: the Immaculate Virgin Mary dressed in a white tunic and blue mantle, standing on the moon, with the sun rising behind her, illuminating the woman whom God chose from all time to be the Mother of God. She is suspended in the centre of the scene within a burst of glory. We can observe several Marian attributes, such as roses and lilies, alluding to the purity of the Virgin, reminiscent of the ornate representation of the Tota Pulchra. This beautiful woman is praying, with a calm and inspired expression, directing her gaze towards the solid ground. She is crowned with a halo of holiness, and twelve stars encircle her head, along with a group of cherubs peeking through the clouds, emphasising the celestial coronation. On this occasion, Páez chose to follow the models of Miguel Cabrera, in which the blue cloths that cover the Immaculate have greater flow and looseness, although the hand of master Páez is easily recognisable in this gentle painting. The painting can be compared to the Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus in the Blaisten Museum and to other Immaculate Conceptions in various institutions, such as the Immaculate Conception with Jesuit Saints in the Regional Museum of Zacatecas and the Immaculate Conception in the Museum of America in Madrid.