Novo-Hispanic school; XVIII century.

Novo-Hispanic school; XVIII century.
"The baptism of Christ".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has frame c. 1820.
Measurements: 63 x 49 cm; 77 x 61 cm (frame).
The present work shows a landscape dominated by a break of glory in the upper area that brings a great luminosity to the scene. The large figures are arranged in the foreground, as was customary after the provisions of the Council of Trent that directed the change of Roman Catholicism in the Counter-Reformation. On the right, dressed in the typical unfinished leather in shades of brown and a red cloak, is St. John the Baptist, pouring water on Christ and holding his crosier with phylactery. Kneeling under the body of St. John the Baptist is the figure of Christ, dressed only in a cloth of purity and with an elegant gesture of humility. An angel waits in front, holding a cloth, waiting for Jesus.

It is worth mentioning that, during the Spanish colonial domination, a mainly religious painting was developed, aimed at Christianizing the indigenous peoples. The local painters were modeled on Spanish works, which they followed literally in terms of types and iconography. The most frequent models were the harquebusier angels and the triangular virgins, however, in the early years of the 19th century, already in times of independence and political opening of some of the colonies, several artists began to represent a new model of painting with its own identity.