Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos

GREGORIO VÁSQUEZ DE ARCE Y CEBALLOS (Santa Fe de Bogotá, 1638-1711).
"Santa Barbara.
Oil on canvas.
It has a frame of the eighteenth century.
Measurements: 106 x 54.5 cm; 106 x 57.5 cm (frame).
Probably made in the second half of that century, the piece is part of the Hispanic American Baroque and is an eloquent example of the local appropriation of iconographic and formal models from Seville and Madrid, reinterpreted in the context of the viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada.
The composition presents the saint full-length, in a frontal position and slightly opposed, with her head bowed and her gaze lowered, a gesture that gives the whole an introspective and devotional tone. She carries the traditional attributes of her iconography: the sword, instrument of her martyrdom and the book, allusion to her wisdom and doctrinal firmness. At her feet there is the presence of a fragmented architectural element, which could allude to the tower where she was imprisoned according to hagiographic tradition, also a symbol of her spiritual strength. The figure appears crowned, underlining her condition of virgin martyr and her heavenly triumph.
From the stylistic point of view, the work reveals characteristic traits of Vásquez's pictorial language: a precise and contained drawing, with soft lines; the delicate modeling of the face, with clear and smooth flesh tones; and a directed illumination that highlights the figure against a dark and neutral background, intensifying the effect of presence and devotion. The palette is articulated around warm tones, golden ochers, intense reds and grayish blues, which generate a balanced chromatic contrast and reinforce the monumentality of the figure. The treatment of the drapery, particularly in the wide golden tunic and the red mantle that falls in wide, undulating folds, denotes an interest in rhythm and texture, although within a compositional economy that avoids the dramatic excess typical of other Baroque centers.
In historical terms, the work should be understood in the context of the intense production of devotional images destined for churches, convents and brotherhoods of the viceroyalty. Saint Barbara was a widely venerated saint in the Hispanic world, associated with protection against storms and sudden dangers, as well as patron saint of artillerymen and miners, which explains her relevance in American territories linked to mining. The painting, therefore, not only responds to an orthodox iconographic program dictated by the Counter-Reformation, but also fits into a social and economic framework specific to the colonial sphere.