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Description
Viceregal School. Dated 1694.
Portrait of Pedro de Zamora Hurtado
Oil on canvas.
107 × 75.5 cm.
The sitter depicted in this painting is Pedro de Zamora Hurtado (Lucena, c. 1603 – Madrid, 1654), a jurist and senior magistrate of the Spanish Monarchy.
After serving as Regent of the Royal Audiencia of Seville and as the city’s chief magistrate, he was appointed a member of the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies on 31 January 1653. From this body, one of the principal centres of government of the Monarchy, he participated in the high-level administration of the American and Philippine territories, overseeing matters of justice, governance, appointments to public office and legislation concerning the Indies.
His experience as a magistrate and Regent of a Royal Audiencia is particularly significant, since the Council exercised supreme jurisdiction over the Audiencias and courts of the American territories. His service in the administration of the Indies was, however, brief: he died in Madrid on 25 February 1654, just over a year after his appointment.
His historical significance is considerable, lying in his position within the machinery of government that administered the Americas from the royal court.
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