Luis Berrueco (Puebla, Mexico, early 18th century) 'Saint Joseph with Child' Oil on canvas. Relined. 63,5 x 49,5 cm.   As the ARCA website reports ‘His date of birth is not known with certainty. He is considered to be the last disciple of Juan Correa. The diocese of Puebla commissioned the canvas ‘The apparition of Saint Michael to the Indian Lazaro’, and he is therefore believed to have been a renowned painter in Puebla and Tlaxcala. His work was characterised by complex compositions and large formats, with a use of color in which the blue, red and ochre palette predominates. His date of death is unknown’.   He is recognized for his devotional paintings, in which the delicate treatment of golden brocade is outstanding, a characteristic that distinguishes him from the novo-Hispanic baroque that emphasizes the majesty and spirituality of his figures.  His work is characterized by complex composition in terms of details, colors, textures and the characters' flesh, with which he expresses the tenderness of Mexican art very well in the characters he paints.  He makes great use of large formats, although the painting we have here is smaller, of a devotional nature, for domestic or chapel use. The use and mastery of very vibrant color, in which palettes of blues, reds, ochers and golds predominate, is remarkable.  The textures of the fabrics stand out, as in the velvet of the Saint or the rustic striped cloth that supports him, the flesh tones of the skin, very pinkish, which express the tenderness of the moment, the goodness and humility of the Saint.  The comparative analysis with known works by Luis Berrueco, such as “The Divine Pilgrim”, located in the Regional Museum of Querétaro, “Our Lady of Refuge”, found in the Museum of the Basilica of Santa María de Guadalupe and “Diego Lázaro”, in the Sanctuary of San Miguel del Milagro, allows us to identify similarities in the style and techniques that reinforce the attribution of this painting. The light is aimed at highlighting the faces and the tenderness of the gesture of Saint Joseph and the Child, a treatment similar to that used in “Diego Lazarus”, where the characters emerge from the half-light with a light that envelops their faces in a mystical halo.  The treatment of the gilding in this painting is comparable to that which appears in the Virgin's clothing in “Our Lady of Refuge”, where the decorative gilded motifs follow a meticulous and symmetrical design.  We can observe the sensitive communication between the son and his father, the game and language of glances in which the Son, tenderly, tries to move the face of his Father who is looking at the viewer and the Child, to call his attention, tries to move his father's chin with his right hand. The look that St. Joseph has for the viewer is scrutinizing, penetrating, humble and tender, very kind, helping to transform whoever he contemplates. The treatment of the faces in this work follows the tradition of Puebla painting, with figures of soft features, serene gazes and a notable idealization of the sacred characters, a tendency that is also observed in “Our Lady of Refuge”. It is due to these characteristics that we support the attribution of our work to Luis Berrueco.    Bibliographical References: - Toussaint, M. (1965). Colonial Art in Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press. - Tovar de Teresa, G. (1992). Catálogo de pintores y escultores en la Nueva España. México: Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, UNAM. - Rincón García, W. (2013). San José en el arte novohispano: Iconografía y devoción. México: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH). - Kubler, G. (1961). Mexican Architecture of the Sixteenth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press. - Burke, M. (1992). Pintura y escultura en Nueva España: El barroco (Arte Novohispano). México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.