| Artist | |
|---|---|
| Culture | Central American |
| Date | Signed and dated, bottom right: Josephus ab Alzíbar pinx.(i)t a(nn)°. 179(3) |
| Object type | painting |
| Medium, technique | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 103.5 x 83.5 cm |
| Inventory number | 74.9 |
| Collection | Old Master Paintings |
| On view | Museum of Fine Arts, Second Floor, European Art 1700-1850, Gallery XXVIII |
José de Alcíbar was one of the founders of the first academy of painting in the Americas and one of the most important painters of his time in Mexico City. This type of painting, depicting novices on the day of their vows, became popular in the Viceroyalty of New Spain in the eighteenth century. On these occasions they would wear a crown richly decorated with flowers on their heads, hence the name monjas coronadas, or crowned nuns. The nuns, usually depicted in three-quarter profile, were always captured in a realistic manner, without idealisation, holding various objects representing the Child Jesus. As a characteristic feature of these paintings, personal information about the sitter was inscribed on the canvases.
Nyerges, Éva, Spanish Paintings, A Szépművészeti Múzeum gyűjteményei/The Collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 2008, p. 190-191, no. 88.
This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.
