Ramón Torres (Active in Mexico from 1740 - 1790) ‘Patronage of Saint John Nepomucene over the Spanish Kingdom and Empire and New Spain’. Oil on canvas. Signed. 64 x 48 cm.   Exquisite canvas signed and dated in 1743, in the first half of the 18th century, by Ramón Torres (‘fecit’), one of the most renowned painters in New Spain, almost a copyist in the way he replicated the stroke and tenderness of Miguel Cabrera's brush, which is very similar in his work. He perfectly captures the Novo-Hispanic society´s particular taste of the time, a very refined taste for religious portrayals, full of mysticism and rapture. In this splendid work we contemplate Saint John Nepomucene who, in ecstasy and already flying in Glory, surrounded by angels, exercises his protection over Spain (venerated in his Queen Maria Amalia of Saxony 1724-1759, wife of Charles III), and the native vicereine of New Spain and Mexico, both on their knees and in adoration of the martyred saint, to whom they ask for help.  Patron saint of Bohemia and martyr of fidelity to the sacrament of confession (in a low cartouche on a lapis lazuli blue background we read: SAN JUAN NEPOMUCENO, PROTO MÁRTIR DEL SIGILO DE LA CONFESSION. ESPECIAL ABOGADO PARA CONFESARSE BIEN, Y CONSERVAR LA FAMA: Y COMO TAL ADMIRADO PATRÓN DE LA REAL UNIVERSIDAD DE MÉXICO EN SU CLAUSTRO PLENO DE 21 DE JUNIO DE 1743.  (SAINT JOHN NEPOMUCENE, PROTO-MARTYR OF THE SEAL OF CONFESSION. SPECIAL ADVOCATE FOR GOOD CONFESSION AND PRESERVING FAME: AND AS SUCH ADMIRED PATRON OF THE ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO IN ITS PLENARY CLOISTER OF 21 JUNE 1743.)   Ramón Torres was a prominent painter amongst the ruling classes. On numerous occasions, he was commissioned to paint portraits of monarchs and notable figures, and the examples of his paintings that are preserved are testament to this. Amongst these, we highlight those mentioned by José María de Francisco Olmos and David Ramírez Jiménez in an article in Hidalguía magazine: “We know that he painted several portraits of monarchs, at least of Charles II and Charles III, as well as some viceroys, and that of Antonia de Mendoza, [1st Viceroy of New Spain and 2nd of Peru (1490–1552), dated 1786, which is part of the collection of the Museum of the Americas in Madrid]'. As the Museum explains, Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza governed New Spain between 1535 and 1550, as indicated by the explanatory caption at the bottom of the painting, accompanied by the heraldry of his lineage. The Museum's catalogue dates this piece to 1786 and states that it is a copy of an anonymous painting kept in the National History Museum in Mexico City, with certain modifications introduced by the artist—portraying the subject with a less stern appearance, suggesting that Torres was not merely a copyist. The explanatory cartouche bears the number I, which can lead us to believe that at some point Ramón Torres was commissioned to reproduce the full series of viceroys.   The painting we have here, given its dimensions and subject matter, was undoubtedly a commission destined for a private noble residence, as its size makes it unsuited to a church or religious congregation. It is evident that it was produced during the reign of Charles III (1759–1788), since, as mentioned, the figure representing the Kingdom of Spain is none other than his wife, Queen Maria Amalia of Saxony (1724–1759). Additionally, it is worth remembering that it was Ramón Torres who painted the great 1762 portrait of King Charles III now housed in the National Museum of History in Mexico. (https://arcav1.uniandes.edu.co/artworks/9788#) Several viceroys served during the reign of Charles III, but in the context of this painting, there is one in particular who is of greatest relevance from both a chronological and historiographical perspective. This is Don Alonso Núñez de Haro y Peralta, a Spanish cleric who served as Archbishop of Mexico from 1772 until his death in 1787, and as Viceroy of New Spain during the final year of his life. Considering that Ramón Torres painted him in the major artwork Portraits of the Archbishop of Mexico and Viceroy Don Alonso Núñez de Haro y Peralta and of Abbot José Félix Colorado under the Protection of the Virgin of Guadalupe, an oil painting dated circa 1776, which is kept in the Museum of the Basilica of Guadalupe, it is our hypothesis that the painting we present may have been commissioned by Archbishop Núñez de Haro to Ramón Torres, as a tribute to his king and to the New World over which he governed as Viceroy.   Returning to the life of Saint John of Nepomucene, he was canonised by Benedict XIII on 19 March 1729.  He was martyred at the request and order of Wenceslas IV, King of Bohemia, for having refused to reveal the Queen's confession. The process of canonisation was carried out quickly, above all at the request of the Society of Jesus, who, in search of a patron saint, made this devotion their own due to the series of attacks and persecutions they were undergoing.  It was Pope Clement XIII who approved the patronage to alleviate the plight of the Jesuits and this saint would be invoked to protect the ‘good name’ of the Society.  Another important reason that popularised the worship of this saint was the fact that he was considered a martyr for the secrecy of confession. A tender and devotional image, possibly commissioned by the Royal University of Mexico, which would have hung in the professors' room or cloister.  The angels of Glory hold his bonnet, the palm of martyrdom and lilies of his purity, and a phylactery that reads: EXTENDET MANUM SUAM SUPER AQUILONEM. Sophon. 2, v. 13) a verse from the prophet Zephaniah, ‘He will stretch out his hand over (against) the north’, which indicates that the God of Israel will destroy, annihilate and exterminate the people of Assyria (in general ‘all the enemies of Spain and New Spain’).   Bibliography:   - Olmos, José María de Francisco y Ramírez Jiménez, David (2017). “La heráldica y la falerística en la identificación de las obras de arte: el supuesto retrato de Matías de Gálvez del museo de América de Madrid”. Revista Hidalguía, nº 374 (enero-abril 2017), pp.113-146. - Katzew, Ilona. (2004). 'La pintura de castas: Representaciones raciales en el México del siglo XVIII'. Turner Publicaciones S.L.