拍品專文
In his most recent publication on Latin American Baroque iconography, professor Santiago Sebastián describes in full detail the different versions of the Holy Shepherdess, Divina Pastora, and particularly the one at the Museo de América in Madrid (S. Sebastián 'Barroco iberoamericano, mensaje iconográfico,' Madrid 1990, p. 220-22). A replica of this picture also painted on copper and slightly bigger in size, this Madrid example is less finished in quality than the present picture which is among the most skillful and complex compositions in small format that is known of this great master.
Asunto Carmelitano depicts, with superb quality and complexity, an ambitious iconography following the tradition of the Carmelite order. In the center of the composition, surrounded by a garden, a seated Mary wears the Carmelite order monastic habit with the corresponding Barefooted coat of arms. A shepherdess hat rests on the Virgin's back and hangs loosely around her neck held by a transparent veil. She holds the shepherdess staff in her left hand and with her right, she pats one of the lambs next to her. In the background, the Christ Child is in a pink dress with both hands pointing toward his chest; he is also surrounded by lambs. A convent wall most likely stands to the left of the composition. At the top, following the tradition of the Roccoco iconograpy of the Holy Shepherdess, two angels hold a royal crown above the Virgin's head. On the upper part of this rich composition are different scenes following a 1750 German print of Lederer and Negges. To the left kneels the prophet Elias who contemplates the Immaculate Virgin rising from the 'nube cula parba.' Further back is the Monte Carmelo with a chapel and a Spanish galleon that traverses the seas. To the right, three Carmelite saints, Saint Cirilo Alexandrine, San Cirilo Costantinopolitano and Saint Albert, all wear the Barefooted order habits and hold manuscripts, while the heretics below them submit to their doctrines.
Asunto Carmelitano depicts, with superb quality and complexity, an ambitious iconography following the tradition of the Carmelite order. In the center of the composition, surrounded by a garden, a seated Mary wears the Carmelite order monastic habit with the corresponding Barefooted coat of arms. A shepherdess hat rests on the Virgin's back and hangs loosely around her neck held by a transparent veil. She holds the shepherdess staff in her left hand and with her right, she pats one of the lambs next to her. In the background, the Christ Child is in a pink dress with both hands pointing toward his chest; he is also surrounded by lambs. A convent wall most likely stands to the left of the composition. At the top, following the tradition of the Roccoco iconograpy of the Holy Shepherdess, two angels hold a royal crown above the Virgin's head. On the upper part of this rich composition are different scenes following a 1750 German print of Lederer and Negges. To the left kneels the prophet Elias who contemplates the Immaculate Virgin rising from the 'nube cula parba.' Further back is the Monte Carmelo with a chapel and a Spanish galleon that traverses the seas. To the right, three Carmelite saints, Saint Cirilo Alexandrine, San Cirilo Costantinopolitano and Saint Albert, all wear the Barefooted order habits and hold manuscripts, while the heretics below them submit to their doctrines.