The Adoration of the Sacred Heart with Saints Ignatius Loyola and Louis Gonzaga

c. 1770

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Image 1

José de Páez, The Adoration of the Sacred Heart with Saints Ignatius Loyola and Louis Gonzaga, about 1770. Oil paint on copper; 16⅛ x 12⅞ in. Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 2013.371.

This object is currently on view

This devotional painting depicts two Jesuit saints kneeling before the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The flaming heart is surmounted by a cross and surrounded by a gloria of cherubs. Devotion to the Sacred Heart was first initiated by a mystic nun, Marguerite Marie Alacoque, in the 1600s and advocated in the 1700s by the Jesuits who, in response to Enlightenment philosophy, encouraged contemplation of nature and its creation as an avenue to reconcile the two worlds of religion and science. The iconography was particularly popular in New Spain in the 1700s, and featured in paintings, prints, and sculpture.

José de Páez seems to have been a student of the important painter Nicolás Enríquez (1704-1790). Páez became one of the most prolific artists of the mid- to late-1700s and is known for the jewel-like quality of his work. The painting features the red and blue tones typical of Páez’s work, along with the gentle facial expressions of the two Jesuits.

– revised by Kathryn Santner, Frederick and Jan Mayer Fellow of Spanish Colonial Art, 2023

Artist

José de Páez, Mexican, 1727-1790: Born: Mexico City, Mexico; Work Locations: Mexico City, Mexico

Country

Mexico

Object

painting

Medium

oil paint on copper

Dimensions

image height: 16 1/8 in, 40.9575 cm; image width: 12 7/8 in, 32.7025 cm; frame height: 24 1/4 in, 61.5950 cm; frame width: 20 1/2 in, 52.0700 cm; frame depth: 2 in, 5.0800 cm

Inscription

Artist's name at bottom right.

Credit Line

Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer

Department

Mayer Center, Latin American Art

Collection

Latin American Art

Accession Number

2013.371

Known Provenance

(Sotheby's), New York, NY, November 16, 1994; Purchased by Frederick and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO, 1994; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2013.

Exhibition History

Exhibited 1999,"Copper As Canvas: Two Centuries of Masterpiece Paintings on Copper, 1575-1775," Phoenix Art Museum, AZ
"The Body of Christ in the Art of Europe and New Spain, 1150-1800," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Dec. 21, 1997-Apr. 12, 1998
"Blood: art, power, politics, and pathology", November 11, 2001 - January 27, 2002, Frankfurt, Germany
"Painting a New World: Mexican Art and Life, 1521-1821" Meadows Museum, Dallas, TX, 2004
Exhibited 2005, "Patronato, Painting from Baroque Mexico: Selected Works from the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer," Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
"Collecting a New World: Spanish Colonial Art from the Jan and Frederick R. Mayer Collection," Apr 2-May 14, 2005, Lamont Gallery, Phillips Exeter Academy
"Heaven and Earth: The Jan and Frederick Mayer Collection of Spanish Colonial Art from the Denver Art Museum, Jun 16-Oct 8, 2006, Museo de las Americas, Denver
"The Arts of Latin America, 1492 - 1820," Philadelphia Musem of Art, Sept. 2006 - Sept. 2007

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