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拍品专文
In 1700, The Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV, became the first Bourbon to be crowned King of Spain as Philip V. The king and his able men embarked on a series of social, political and economic reforms at home and throughout its vast colonial territories. Bourbon French aesthetic began to influence taste as the Spanish court invited various masters such as Jean Ranc, Hyacinthe Rigaud and others to create royal portraits. Indeed, the Spanish nobility became enamored of all things French, especially art, literature, fashion and culture. In its Viceroyalties of Nueva España and Peru, this taste also stimulated commissions for portraits from the elites or criollos such as the General Ignacio Vázquez de Acuña Menacho Sosa y Xeria, Zorrilla de la Gándara, León y Mendoza from the city of Lima.1
Don Ignacio who was General of the Royal Armies was also Corregidor and Chief Justice of the city of Huamanga one of the twelve corregimientos or jurisdictions within the Viceroyalty of Peru and had been appointed directly by the king. The painting is considered a posthumous work as the General’s death on 11 May 1718 is recorded in the inscription on the lower right. The portrait offers a window to the society in which he lived and served the Spanish crown. According to scholar M.ª Concepción García Saiz, Don Ignacio is attired in the finest contemporary Bourbon military fashion worn by the Spanish generals such as the exquisite long buttoned-down red coat embellished with silver embroidery, and long cravat edged in lace. He wears a long powdered wig and with his right hand holds both a baton of command and his tricorn hat; with his left, a walking stick denoting his leadership skills as a firm but fair commander. The setting in which the local artist has placed the impressing but serene figure of Don Ignacio includes the draped red curtain, a trope frequently used in formal portraiture since the mid fifteenth century. By the eighteenth century portraits of the elites included a noble domestic setting with a desk with books or papers, and a window with a view leading to a local landscape but perhaps this commission did not require these usual trappings and reveals a preference for the new vogue.2
Don Ignacio was born in 1681 to a prominent family in the city of Lima; his father came from an illustrious family who had originally settled in Chile. The coat of arms at upper left attests to his noble genealogy as his ancestors had been granted various titles by two Spanish monarchs. Indeed, more titles of nobility were granted in the Vice Royalty of Peru than anywhere else in the empire; the great majority to the elites of Lima.3 Thus, the motto, “VELAR SE DEVE LA VIDA/ DE TAL SUERTE QUE VIVA QUEDE EN LA MUERTE,” reflects the family’s loyalty to God and king. The words were inspired by Saint Teresa de Jesus as García Saiz has noted.4 On 21 January 1704 Don Ignacio married Doña Andrea Román de Aulestia y Cedreros Gómez Boquete y Montealegre. Their children were Francisca Bárbara and Juan José Vázquez de Acuña y Román de Aulestia. Doña Andrea’s death on 15 December 1757 is noted in her portrait in the permanent collection at the San Antonio Museum of Art. Her portrait and that of her husband Don Ignacio were most probably executed by same artist during a similar period due to the similarities in composition, the texts used in the inscriptions, and execution of coat of arms, according to García Saiz who dates the portraits to 1715 which coincided with the end of Don Ignacio’s term as corregidor in Huamanga. The portraits would have hung together in an important room or reception hall of their home.
Margarita J. Aguilar, Doctoral candidate, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Don Ignacio who was General of the Royal Armies was also Corregidor and Chief Justice of the city of Huamanga one of the twelve corregimientos or jurisdictions within the Viceroyalty of Peru and had been appointed directly by the king. The painting is considered a posthumous work as the General’s death on 11 May 1718 is recorded in the inscription on the lower right. The portrait offers a window to the society in which he lived and served the Spanish crown. According to scholar M.ª Concepción García Saiz, Don Ignacio is attired in the finest contemporary Bourbon military fashion worn by the Spanish generals such as the exquisite long buttoned-down red coat embellished with silver embroidery, and long cravat edged in lace. He wears a long powdered wig and with his right hand holds both a baton of command and his tricorn hat; with his left, a walking stick denoting his leadership skills as a firm but fair commander. The setting in which the local artist has placed the impressing but serene figure of Don Ignacio includes the draped red curtain, a trope frequently used in formal portraiture since the mid fifteenth century. By the eighteenth century portraits of the elites included a noble domestic setting with a desk with books or papers, and a window with a view leading to a local landscape but perhaps this commission did not require these usual trappings and reveals a preference for the new vogue.2
Don Ignacio was born in 1681 to a prominent family in the city of Lima; his father came from an illustrious family who had originally settled in Chile. The coat of arms at upper left attests to his noble genealogy as his ancestors had been granted various titles by two Spanish monarchs. Indeed, more titles of nobility were granted in the Vice Royalty of Peru than anywhere else in the empire; the great majority to the elites of Lima.3 Thus, the motto, “VELAR SE DEVE LA VIDA/ DE TAL SUERTE QUE VIVA QUEDE EN LA MUERTE,” reflects the family’s loyalty to God and king. The words were inspired by Saint Teresa de Jesus as García Saiz has noted.4 On 21 January 1704 Don Ignacio married Doña Andrea Román de Aulestia y Cedreros Gómez Boquete y Montealegre. Their children were Francisca Bárbara and Juan José Vázquez de Acuña y Román de Aulestia. Doña Andrea’s death on 15 December 1757 is noted in her portrait in the permanent collection at the San Antonio Museum of Art. Her portrait and that of her husband Don Ignacio were most probably executed by same artist during a similar period due to the similarities in composition, the texts used in the inscriptions, and execution of coat of arms, according to García Saiz who dates the portraits to 1715 which coincided with the end of Don Ignacio’s term as corregidor in Huamanga. The portraits would have hung together in an important room or reception hall of their home.
Margarita J. Aguilar, Doctoral candidate, The Graduate Center, City University of New York