The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence

The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence is one of the early pieces from the second period of the work of José Juárez, which is characterized by a grandiloquent, monumental visual discourse. The painting is divided into two halves. In the upper one, two angelic choruses ranged in semicircles play heavenly music, as an ideal preamble for the gates of heaven to open, high above, in a burst of glory. This angelic vision seems to impart consolation and hope to the figure of Lawrence, who stoically puts up with his torments on the grill. The lower half of the work is given over to the earthly realm, where numerous people witness the martyrdom. A well modeled angel, which serves as a link between the two worlds, aids Lawrence during his suffering, showing him the happy destiny that awaits him. The novel composition and the treatment of light and shade link this painting with the Sevillian ambience of the period, evidencing the influence that the Spaniard, Sebastián López de Arteaga, had on the work of José Juárez. Saint Lawrence had a wide following in Spain and in the Americas. The spreading of his cult was favored by Philip II, who, after his victory at the Battle of Saint Quentin on the 10th of August 1557, the date on which Saint Lawrence is commemorated, dedicated the Escorial monastery-palace to the latter as an offering. This large-scale work adorned the east wall of the staircase of the Convent of Saint Lawrence in México City. It passed to the MUNAL from the San Diego Viceregal Painting Gallery in the year 2000.