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

Jose de Paez (Mexico City, 1727 - circa 1790) "Saint John of Nepomuk" Oil on copper. Signed: "Joseph de Paez Fecit". With an imposing,17th century frame. 27 x 21 cm. Frame measurements: 88 x 58,5 cm. Saint John of Nepomukwas a bohemian priest, Vicar General of the Diocese of Prague. Martyred in the year 1393 for the secrecy of confession - he was thrown into the river from the Charles Bridge, in that city, by King Wenceslas IV who was trying to seize the assets of the Church. His tongue was cut out, for not revealing the queen's sins to the King, who wanted to hear them, and so killed him for his silence. Patron saint of confessors, who must keep the sacramental seal. The scene presents Saint John of Nepomuk with a crucifix, the martyr's palm and with five stars in his halo, as legend tells that they were seen around his head when his body was rescued from the river. To his right we see a small angel making the sign of "silence" and on the lower cartouche the legend " Pro sigillo Confessionis”, referring to the secrecy of confession. 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, we highlight the paintings on copper"Divine Shepherd" and "Our Lady ofLoreto" from the Museo de América in Madrid; the "Medallion of a friar with the Nativity" and "Saint John of Nepomuk" from LACMA; the "Virgen de la Merced" from the Blaisten Museum; and the ten paintings from the "Cycle of the Life of the Virgin" 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."