This painting is signed by Miguel Cabrera, an extremely important painter from the middle of the 18th century due to his influence, artistic work and treatise in favor of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and also for continuing the task of reforming the artistic endeavors in New Spain that the Rodriguez Juarez brothers had begun toward 1710. He therefore presents a reduced palette, typical of paintings of the era, as well as the friendly factions and pink incarnations.
It has been supposed that this artist had a large workshop, although little has been able to be studied and verified in this respect as there is still no comprehensive catalog of all his works, nor are there documents regarding such. The majority of his signed paintings are high quality as he knew how to capture figures of kind beauty with simplicity, varied affections and more naturalist proportions than those that were used in the previous century. However, not all paintings that bear his signature have the same fineness, subtlety and complexity, which may perhaps be explained due to the operation of a large workshop that met different needs.
This is the case of Saint Dominic, which does not show the same elevated quality of other pieces from his brush, such as the painting of Saint John of Nepomuk from the same collection. Saint Dominic seems to be signed in 1741, the earliest work found in his authorship being from 1740;[1] therefore, his painting could denote an earlier stage of the artistic development of Cabrera, and in this sense it would acquire relevance in order to understand his artistic evolution. It is, however, a painting that allows one to unhesitatingly recognize the saint, and whose composition gives it divinity and greatness due to the handling of the backdrop with its low horizon and the scales of the represented objects.
Saint Dominic appears dressed with his white habit and a black cape, and with the attributes that distinguish him: the star on the forehead, the beads on the neck, the book that identifies him as learned, the lily of purity, and a banner with the white and black flower of light. In addition, at his feet is the dog that his mother dreamed about while she was pregnant, with a lit torch, which symbolizes that he will fight with the heretic like a guard dog. One should that said animal has been identified with the name of the saint in a play on words: "dog of the lord" as “Domini canis”.[2] It is therefore a teaching work that does well in fulfilling the objective of serving the commoner in their prayers and devotions, as was requested of the painters in all theoretical or theological texts.
[1]. This is a portrait of Fray Toribio of Our Lady in the temple of San Fernando in Mexico City. Guillermo Tovar de Teresa, Miguel Cabrera, pintor de cámara de la Reina Celestial (Miguel Cabrera, painter of the chamber of the Celestial Kingdom), Mexico, InverMexico, 1995, pg. 216.
[2]. Reau, Louis, Iconografía del arte cristiano. (Iconography of Christian Art.) Iconografía de los santos. (Iconography of the Saints) De la A a la F, (From A to F), tomo 2, Barcelona, Serbal, 2000, Vol. 3, p. 394.
This painting is signed by Miguel Cabrera, an extremely important painter from the middle of the 18th century due to his influence, artistic work and treatise in favor of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and also for continuing the task of reforming the artistic endeavors in New Spain that the Rodriguez Juarez brothers had begun toward 1710. He therefore presents a reduced palette, typical of paintings of the era, as well as the friendly factions and pink incarnations.
