Domingo Gutiérrez and Juan Pedro López, Armchair for the Solium of the Caracas Cathedral, 1766. Gilded and painted Spanish cedar and fabric upholstery; 45¾ × 23⅝ × 19½ in. Gift of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros in honor of Gustavo A. Cisneros, 2019.69.

Born on the Canary Island of Tenerife, Domingo Gutiérrez immigrated to Caracas, Venezuela, as a young man. During his life, he was considered the city’s most accomplished cabinetmaker. He worked for important churches and monasteries and for the most distinguished local families. Gutiérrez often entrusted Juan Pedro López, a Caracas native and respected painter, with gilding and painting his pieces.

This armchair is part of a set of three made by Gutiérrez in the mid-1760s for the solium off the main altar, where a bishop would sit, at the Caracas Cathedral. Records show that in 1766, López received payment for repairing and retouching the chairs.

The design of this armchair is based on mid-eighteenth-century Spanish models. Its simple structure contrasts with the carved and gilded foliage and rocaille crest in the distinctive manner of Gutiérrez. López’s painted decoration, meanwhile, is characteristic of his work and similar to his 1773 confessional for the Church of Saint Francis in Caracas.

— Jorge F. Rivas Pérez, Frederick and Jan Mayer Curator of Latin American Art, 2019