Novo-Hispanic school; mid-18th century. "Portrait... Lot 24

Novo-Hispanic school; mid-18th century. "Portrait of a Girl". Oil on canvas. Eighteenth-century re-decorated. It conserves a Mexican period frame in carved and gilded wood. Measurements: 66 x 56 cm; 80 x 70 cm (frame). Child portrait in which the author captures the warm image of a girl surrounded by nature. The softness and delicacy of the girl's clothes, together with the luminosity of her skin, manage to capture the viewer's attention, leaving the landscape in the background. The work is completed by the presence of a still life next to the girl, consisting of a peach and a bunch of grapes, and the young girl holding a string in one of her hands tied to a small bird, a symbol of childlike innocence and the fleetingness of life, with which it was customary to portray children, even in religious painting, where the image of the Infant Jesus holding a bird in his hands became popular. It is worth mentioning the frame of the work due to its importance. It is a period piece made of carved and gilded wood, defined by a classical ornamentation divided into three registers, the inner one being the largest. It is worth mentioning that, during Spanish colonial rule, a mainly religious painting was developed, aimed at Christianising the indigenous peoples. Local painters were modelled on Spanish works, which they followed literally in terms of type and iconography. The most frequent models were harquebusier angels and triangular virgins; however, in the early years of the 19th century, at the time of independence and political openness in some of the colonies, several artists began to depict a new model of painting with its own identity.