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Miracles of the Blessed Salvador of Horta

José Juárez1000

Museo Nacional de Arte

Museo Nacional de Arte
Mexico City, Mexico

This painting depicts one of the miraculous cures effected by Saint Salvador of Horta, a Franciscan friar with many sick, poor and deformed followers whose miraculous powers became so widely known that, oftentimes, the crowds of needy people who gathered to beg for his help so disturbed the peace of his monastery that he was transferred from one place to another - a fact that the painter reminds us of by including six chapels at some time inhabited by the saint in the upper right hand corner of the painting. The bottom part of the work, which is taken up by the multitude of sick people, is highly expressive, above all with regard to the expressions and positioning of the figures. The present composition is a derivative of The Mímeles of Saint Francis Xavier, a work commissioned from Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) by the Jesuits of the city of Antwerp. However, it should be stressed that neo-Hispanic painters did not always make exact copies of prior works, selecting those elements that best suited their own and local tastes. The specialists have noted traces of the studio of José Juárez in this work -more precisely those of his student and heir, Antonio Rodríguez and of Baltasar de Echave y Rioja, who was working in the said studio around 1660. The painting originally hung on one of the three staircases of the Franciscan Convent in México City, passing from the San Diego Viceregal Painting Gallery to the MUNAL in the year 2000, to form part of the latter’s collection.

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  • Title: Miracles of the Blessed Salvador of Horta
  • Creator Lifespan: 1617 - 1661
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Date Created: 1000
  • painter: José Juárez
  • Provenance: San Diego Viceregal Painting Gallery, 2000
  • Physical Dimensions: w3250 x h3990 mm (complete)
  • Original Spanish object note: La pintura muestra una de las milagrosas curaciones realizadas por Juan Salvador de Horta, quien tuvo numerosos seguidores enfermos, pobres y contrahechos. La fama de su poder taumatúrgico alcanzó grandes dimensiones; con frecuencia la multitud de necesitados que imploraban su ayuda perturbaba la paz necesaria al convento. Por esto el religioso franciscano fue transferido a diferentes sedes, hecho que el artista quiso plasmar en la parte superior derecha donde representó seis capillas que fueron su morada. El registro inferior ocupado por los enfermos está dotado de una fuerte carga expresiva, palpable en los rostros y disposición de las figuras. Esta composición deriva de Los milagros de san Francisco Xavier, encargo realizado por Pedro Pablo Rubens (1577-1640) para los jesuítas en la ciudad de Amberes. Sin embargo, hay que destacar que la copia de modelos grabados por parte de los pintores novohispanos no fue siempre exacta, sino que los artistas seleccionaban aquellos motivos más acordes con el gusto propio y el local. Los especialistas han sugerido que en esta obra se distingue la presencia del taller de José Juárez, tanto de su discípulo y heredero Antonio Rodríguez como de Baltasar de Echave y Rioja, quien trabajó en el taller hacia 1660. La pintura se encontraba en una de las tres escalera del convento de San Francisco de la ciudad de México; proveniente de la Pinacoteca Virreinal de San Diego, pasó a formar parte del acervo del MUNAL en el año 2000.
  • Original title: Milagros del beato Salvador de Horta
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: Museo Nacional de Arte, INBA, http://www.munal.com.mx/rights.html
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
Museo Nacional de Arte

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