Ten highlights of the collection

The author or authors of this embroidery on fabric are unknown. However, Juan del Rosario, university president between 1660 and 1665, donated “a painted and embroidered canvas shaped in the figure of Our Lady of the Rosary, with gold and silk embroidery with some stones” (School’s Inventory on March 17th 1665).

The lace on the Virgin's tunic is embroidered with metallic threads forming floral motifs. A rosary hangs from her hand, a typical attribute of this figure.

Did you notice that another rosary made up of small pearls is hanging from the child’s hand? Also, take a look at the sequins and green stones that decorate his robe and crown.

At the feet of the Virgin are the cherubs: their faces were oil painted and their wings were embroidered in silk. The outlines of some of the shapes such as the clouds were delineated using twisted threads.

The portrait shows Margaret of Austria, mother of Philip IV, King of Spain. It was commissioned to the Spanish painter Enrique Recio Gil, who was a professor at the School of Fine Arts in Bogota. He was active there in 1898 and he taught the most popular drawing class of the College (Document of June 12, 1898, in Fajardo de Rueda 1996, 177).

Many stories have been told about Margaret of Austria. For a long time it was asserted that she was the author of the famous tapestry depicting “Our Lady of the Rosary” and that it was actually a gift to her confessor, Cristóbal de Torres, before he travelled to America.

Caldas Barbosa is one of the first fifteen schoolboys to enter the Rosario. He had the honor of being a “colegial,” meaning a collegiate student member of the college government. He was chosen directly by the founder Fray Cristobal because of his virtues. He later became a professor and then university president in 1667. The penetrating stare shown has been the subject of various studies in Colombian art.

The author of this magnificent portrait, according to its cartouche, is Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos (1638-1711), who was one of the most celebrated painters of the colonial period. The painting shows the year 1698.

This painter strove to represent hand gestures, and the right hand is holding a quill. This gesture had a special value in a period when learning to read and write represented a privileged place in society.

The two books stacked in the background, with Latin titles, are volumes of the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, a doctrine that was introduced as part of the formation at the Rosario.

Painted by Joaquín Gutiérrez around the second half of the 18th century, this portrait represents the painting style of the Vice-royalty period of New Granada. Gutiérrez's use of a rather flat perspective and his interest in ornamentalism and color pallete, such as carmine red and ochres, are characteristic of his work.

The lace cuffs and white gloves are symbolic elements that allude to the student's social status.

León y Herrera wears the white beca or graduation stole, representative of his status as a ‘colegial’ (collegiate student member of the college government). It contains the Calatrava Cross, a symbol of the Dominicans, surrounded by the beads of the rosary.

The cartouche records the most significant events in the character's life. Although it is believed that the portrait was painted during his lifetime, on observing the date of death in the cartouche it is assumed that at least part of it was made after the portrait.

Rodriguez Torices was a lawyer from the Rosario and later a Precursor of the Colombian Independence, becoming a martyr that was executed by the Spaniards along with Camilo Torres.

Here he is portrayed by Luis Garcia Hevia, recognized in the history of Colombian art as a painter, photographer and calligrapher. This piece, created in 1837, represents a radical break from the way portrait painting had been approached in the earlier works of the collection.

The choice of color and the technique used by the painter on the character's complexion, as well as on the bearded area, generate a visual effect which was innovative for the style of the time.

In addition, García Hevia excels at faithfully representing the volume of the frills of his shirt, which jut out from Rodriguez's jacket.

The calligraphy is also the work of the same painter, García Hevia.

By removing the text from the traditional cartouche and incorporating it into a black background where the contrasting white calligraphy stands out, this painting represents a radical change in portrait art.

The portrait of this science professor at the Rosario was made by his son, Eugenio Zerda, in 1921. It is a symbol of modernity: not only from the innovative plastic art values but from the concept of the new meaning of science and education at the beginning of the 20th century. This work shows a transformation of the Colegio Mayor, as well as a turning point in the approach to the genre of portraiture.

The professor's gaze is focused on the activity he is carrying out in the laboratory –and not on the viewer’s eyes– which represents an important change compared to previous portraits of professors and presidents of the university.