José de Páez (1721-1780), Círculo de - Mater Dolorosa

Virgin of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa).
School: Mexican School / Viceroyalty of New Spain. [1, 2]
Circle / Style: Stylistic proximity to the models of José de Páez (1721-1790) or Andrés López (active 1763-1811). Baroque colonial painting of the second half of the eighteenth century. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Technique: Oil on rustic canvas. [1]
Canvas dimensions: 40 x 30 cm.
Frame: Included. Carved and gold-plated wood. Period: late 19th century or early 20th century.[1
Excellent oil on canvas of devotional format belonging to the Mexican School of the eighteenth century (Viceroyal art of New Spain). The work depicts the Virgin of Sorrows following the guidelines of New Spanish Marian iconography, characterized by a deep contained emotional charge, half-closed eyes and hands clasped in a prayerful attitude. It highlights the use of a dagger or straight sword crossing the chest diagonally, a compositional device popularized in colonial workshops for domestic devotion and private chapels. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Stylistically, the soft modeling of the features, the delicacy of the flesh tones and the play of light on the veil place the piece in the orbit of the great masters of the period such as José de Páez or Andrés López, who standardized these mystical representations with enormous success. The back of the canvas shows a rustic weave perfectly coherent with the period supports and a totally uniform oxidation. A work with great expressive force, ideal for collectors of colonial and high-age art." [1, 2, 3, 4]
Parallels in Museums and Market
Models by José de Páez (Mexico, 1721-1790): Various Sorrows signed by this author and sold at prestigious auction houses (such as Morton Subastas or specialized art platforms) present analogous compositions: the same tilted bust, the hands together and an identical dagger crossing the chest. [1, 2, 3]
Models by Andrés López (Mexico, active 1763-1811): In New Spain there was a taste for presenting Mary with a single dagger stabbed in the chest as a symbol of her sorrow. Painters like Andrés López (trained at the Academy of San Carlos) regularly repeated this exact formal scheme on small-format supports. [1, 2]
Bibliography:
TOUSSAINT, Manuel. Colonial Painting in Mexico, Institute of Aesthetic Research, UNAM, Mexico. (Standard reference text for cataloging viceroyal works on Catawiki).
V.V.A.A. José de Páez and the painting of his time, viceroyal catalogs. (Study on the dispersion of the original multiple Mexican devotional pieces in private Spanish and American collections)