Saint Anthony and the Christ Child
- Alonso López de Herrera, Spanish, c. 1580 - 1675
- Born: Valladolid, Spain
- Work Locations: Mexico
- Attributed to
Alonso López de Herrera, Saint Anthony and the Christ Child, about 1640. Oil paint on copper panel; 22¼ × 16 in. Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 2014.213.
Alonso López de Herrera was born in Valladolid, Spain around 1580. In 1608, he immigrated to Mexico in the entourage of the newly-appointed Archbishop Fray García Guerra, who also served as viceroy in 1611 and 1612. López de Herrera painted a portrait of the Dominican Guerra in 1609 and entered the Dominican order himself in 1625. Over the next 50 years, he continued to work as an artist while living in Dominican establishments in Mexico City, Puebla, Guadalajara and Zacatecas.
Known for his exquisite works of high quality and precise draftsmanship, Herrera conveyed emotional intensity through hand gestures and the expression in the eyes. His elegant paintings on copper, such as this excellent example, are particularly vibrant and jewel-like with refined brushwork and saturated coloring. Like this example, many of Herrera’s paintings include an almost surrealist burst of brilliant light from heaven descending through realistic cloud formations to illuminate the scene with a golden glow. His ability to render realistic three-dimensional space in the forefront of the picture plane pulls the viewer into the scene and creates a sense of inclusion in the event. Another leitmotif of Herrera’s style is the use of wayward tufts of hair carefully delineated by the artist and indicative of his extreme attention to the minutiae of the scene.
-- Donna Pierce, 2015
- "Old Master Paintings and Drawings from Colorado Collections"—The Aspen Art Museum, 07/30/1998 - 09/27/1998
- Denver Art Museum, Spanish Colonial galleries, 2001-2005
- 2009-2010
- “The Light Show” — Denver Art Museum, 5/19/2019 – 3/7/2021
