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Premium Attributed to Juan Correa (Mexico, 1646 – 1716)
"Archangel S…
Attributed to Juan Correa (Mexico, 1646 – 1716)
"Archangel S…
Lot no. 68
Description
Attributed to Juan Correa (Mexico, 1646 – 1716)
"Archangel Saint Raphael as pilgrim and guide to travellers" and "Saint Gabriel the Archangel"
Pair of oil pantings on canvas.
70,5 x 49 cm each.
There are several characteristics or stylistic features that we find among our archangels and other works signed by the hand of Correa. The most evident ones, in our view, are as follows:
- The existence of a type of natural landscape when the scene does not take place indoors, such as the types of trees, skies with diffuse clouds, the tones of the vegetation that frames the scene and gives it strength and presence.
- The type of figure is always very characteristic, with very similar physical features, oval faces with fine noses, small and slightly full lips, light-colored hair, and wings of a very distinctive typology of his.
- In the garments, the similarities are also evident, in the chromatic choices made by the painter, the movement he always conveys in the clothing, the use of a silk blouse with a transparent glaze that always appears beneath the sleeves and at the lower openings of the garments, which the painter gathers with a jeweled clasp to reveal the legs of the Archangel, a gesture very much in keeping with Baroque taste.
- Finally, the archangels wear similar boots that leave the toes exposed.
This sense of natural movement that we mentioned is always enhanced by the special posture of the Archangel, with arms often extended and forming a diagonal, drawing another figure of the scene toward him or indicating a path, as happens in our Saint Raphael as a pilgrim.
We justify these comparisons by confronting our beautiful archangels, for example, with those that form part of the Chapel of the Holy Angels, also known as that of Saint Michael, in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico. In it is found the altarpiece of the Guardian Angel, also known as that of Saint Gabriel.
As we read in the biography of Correa by Elisa Vargas and José Guadalupe Victoria, Correa left a considerable number of paintings on angelic themes, gathered in one of the chapters. We also read in the aforementioned book about the fondness for this figure: “Angels are among the themes most frequently represented by New Spanish painters, given the evidently decorative and allegorical tone of the religious painting of that period. They are not found as secondary or complementary figures in major religious themes; rather, they themselves received special devotion. Proof of this is the widespread veneration enjoyed by Saint Michael the Archangel.”
The authors point out the mentioned and richly adorned Chapel of the Holy Angels in the Metropolitan Cathedral, and they inform us that, of the three existing altarpieces, two feature works by Juan Correa, which we have just compared.
A beautiful pair of oil paintings depicting two archangels, one of the most frequently represented subjects by New Spanish painters, given the eminently decorative and allegorical tone of religious painting at that time. We see them as the main, central figures demanding special worship, unlike in other works where they appear as secondary figures forming part of the scene.
With greater finesse, detail, and refinement in the lines and faces, our artist depicts two angels on their way, against a background clearly influenced by Flemish art.
The Archangel Saint Raphael does not appear alone in the scene. Our artist paints him perfectly dressed as a pilgrim on the Way of St. James, as a guide for travelers. He places him in the company of Tobias, whom he guides, and who appears on the right.
There is a clear relationship between the person portrayed and the Book of Tobias. The Book of Tobit in the Old Testament recounts how Saint Raphael the Archangel helped Tobias marry Sarah, a woman who saw the men she married before die, tormented by a devil on their wedding night. Raphael accompanied Tobias on his journey, holding his hand. Hence, he is the “guide of travelers or pilgrims.”
A religious scene set in a landscape on the shore of a stormy sea, with seashells scattered along the path, where the staff and his offering and guiding hand show him the way forward.
Gabriel, as a “divine messenger,” is depicted as a solitary figure, also walking against a backdrop of mountains and vegetation. Painted and immortalized as a sculpture illuminated from above by an ethereal light, he is a celestial being who is invoked for guidance, protection, and inspiration.
Both archangels reflect their entire soul and its nature in their faces: their being of messengers, the psychology and depth of their feelings, and their youthful beauty, all reflections of their celestial being.
Two works of exquisite finesse, with great attention to the textures of fabrics and details of jewelry, and vivid, rich colors, show their author as a master of expressiveness through the light and shadows of everything painted.
Juan Correa is regarded as the leading painter in late 17th-century Mexico. The son of a famous Spanish surgeon and a freed Black woman, Correa was one of the few mestizo artists to achieve fame in his time (painting was generally considered the domain of white or Spanish masters). His two large mural-sized canvases for the sacristy of the Mexico City Cathedral (1691–98), for example, are considered masterpieces of Mexican Baroque art.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico describes him as “one of the foremost exponents of the Baroque in Mexico, whose works are characterized by their sumptuousness, attention to detail, and golden tones.”
His origins were reflected in his art, “as his father was of African and Spanish descent [and] Juan Correa was the first to paint angels with Black or brown skin tones and the Virgin with a dark complexion”—a feature that “would become an unmistakable hallmark of his creations.”
Bibliographical references:
- Vargas Lugo, Elisa y Guadalupe Victoria, José. (1985). “Juan Correa. Su vida y su obra. Tomo II Primera parte". Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
- Mediateca Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. (19 de octubre de 2020). "Juan Correa". https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/repositorio/node/5231
- Mediateca Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. (22 de enero de 2022). "Juan Correa, pintor novohispano afrodescendiente". https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/node/5383
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