Portrait of the Child, Joaquín Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz

Together with his brother Juan, Nicolás Rodríguez Juárez was a member of the fourth and last generation of the painting dynasty founded by Luis Juárez. This work has all the hallmarks of an official portrait: a character standing in the center of the composition wearing sumptuous garments, with a costly piece of furniture beside him on which there are various objects alluding to his profession, along with an opulent curtain behind him. Such features were normally used in portraits of civil, religious or military officials or members of noble houses, together with an identifying coat of arms in the latter case. It is noteworthy that a child should merit a portrait, and, above all, that this should follow the aforesaid pattern, which attests to the lineage of the child, barely four years old, who, according to the tablet which he is holding, was related to the Bishop of Puebla. Behind Joaquín Manuel’s left hand we can see the hilt of a sword whose point sticks out from below his jacket, linking him with a possible military career in the future. This piece passed to the MUNAL from the San Diego Viceregal Painting Gallery in the year 2000.