Samuel Stradamus (Antwerp, first half of the 17th century) and Attributed to José de Páez (Mexico City, 1727 - circa 1790) “The Holy Family” / "Coat of arms of Viceroy Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel, Marquis of Gelves, Viceroy and Governor from September 21, 1621 to November 1, 1624" Oil on copper. 9 x 12 cm. On the reverse, an engraving by Samuel Stradamus, signed in Mexico and dated 1623, bearing the coat of arms of the Viceroy Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel. This is specifically a marital coat of arms between Diego Pimentel and Leonor Francisca de Portugal Colón de Toledo, Countess of Gelves. The escutcheon displays the arms of the Pimentel and Portugal families, Counts of Gelves, used in his capacity as Marquis of Gelves, as well as the Cross of Santiago. The shield belongs to Diego Pimentel, youngest son of Pedro Pimentel, Marquis of Távara, and Leonor Enríquez de Toledo, who was a Knight of the Order of Santiago since 1586 (as indicated by the cross behind the arms) and later Commander of Villanueva de la Fuente in the same order. He married first Leonor Francisca de Portugal Colón de Toledo, Countess of Gelves (d.1618), taking the title Diego de Portugal y Pimentel as Count Consort. He later married Juana Carrillo de Mendoza, Countess of Priego (d.1623), and as Count Consort adopted the name Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel. Under this name he travelled to Mexico, where he served as Viceroy of New Spain from 1621 to 1624. He is so mentioned in “Dedicatoria y elogio del Excelentíssimo Señor Don Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel Conde de Priego, Marqués de Gelves, Virrey de Nueva España & c. en la dirección del Túmulo de Su Magestad”, written by Arias de Villalobos, priest and chaplain, in Mexico, 1623. King Philip III had granted Diego the title of Marquis of Gelves in 1613, shortly before his appointment as Viceroy of Aragon (1610–1621). Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel, 1st Marquis of Gelves and Count Consort of Priego (Valladolid, c.1560 – Madrid, 1636), was a Spanish nobleman who held important positions within the Hispanic Monarchy, notably Viceroy of Aragon (1610–1621) and Viceroy of New Spain (1621–1624). The Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía has located an archival photograph of a painting in which Viceroy Don Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel appears, with a handwritten cartouche that identifies him, painted precisely with the coat of arms represented on the Stradamus plate that we present. The photograph is held in the Fototeca Constantino Reyes-Valerio de la Coordinación Nacional de Monumentos Históricos, in the Media Library of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (Mediateca INAH). This finding is especially significant, since it provides irrefutable evidence that the coat of arms on our plate is that of Viceroy Diego Pimentel, as it appears in the portrayed painting and is identified with that coat of arms. It is important to note that the plate for this engraving of ours is already acknowledged within its small identified corpus, as Natalia Ferreiro explains in her thesis, which we will reference later. As she explains, “the existence of seven plates engraved by him with a burin is known, among them [...] the coat of arms of Viceroy Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel (1621–1624).” As we see, the copper sheet used by the painter of this scene is, due to its historical significance, as important as the painting itself: the artist reused, as was common at the time, a copper engraving plate by the eminent Samuel Stradamus. Already in 1949, Professor Manuel Toussaint, in his article “El arte flamenco en Nueva España” (Memorias de la Academia Mexicana de la Historia), refers to the engraver’s relationship with nobility and official circles, noting that Stradamus created “portraits of prominent figures, coats of arms, and a plan, what was then called a map, of Mexico City and its surroundings.” In the same publication, Manuel Romero de Terreros replies, adding that Stradamus was “the author of the portraits of Diego de Cisneros and Arias de Villalobos, and of the coat of arms of the Viceroy Montesclaros.” As detailed in Natalia Ferreiro Reyes’s thesis, “Pintura sobre lámina de cobre. Estudio de la colección del Museo Franz Mayer”, Stradamus was the first to introduce copperplate engraving in New Spain, where previously woodblocks had been the standard support. She explains that “the official introducer of copper engraving in New Spain was the Flemish artist Samuel Stradamus (active between 1604 and 1622). Most scholars agree that the first press capable of printing copper images likely arrived around 1600, when Stradamus began working in Mexico City. It is certain that the prints he produced are the earliest known metal engravings made in the Viceroyalty.” That same study also discusses the reuse of copper plates by leading Novohispanic painters: “Another example of reuse can be found in Juan Rodríguez Juárez (1675–1728) and his Virgin and Child, as well as in a copper attributed to Miguel Cabrera (1695–1768) depicting Saint Barbara, both painted over previously engraved plates.” This case precisely mirrors ours, in which a major artist such as Páez repurposed a plate whose original function had been exhausted. This crucial figure, Samuel Stradamus, has been brought to broader attention thanks in part to Professor Clara Bargellini, in her keynote lecture “What Did the First Engraver in New Spain Do?” delivered at the XLIV International Colloquium on Art History – El Giro Material, organized by the IIE. She explained that “Stradanus arrived in New Spain in 1603 with the fleet that brought the Viceroy Montesclaros, commissioned by King Philip III to found the Royal Mint in Mexico City and Zacatecas; it seems the Viceroy required Stradanus—and perhaps another Flemish artist—to establish and disseminate metal engraving practices. Until relatively recently, these were the only works known by this artist.” Within his artistic career, Stradamus’s major contribution lies in the spread of the Guadalupe iconography. While Baltasar Echave Orio was the first to depict the Virgin of Guadalupe in painting (1606), Stradamus was the first to engrave her image, basing his design on Echave Orio’s model. As Inés Marta Toste Basse notes in “El Tornaviaje: Copias de la Vera Efigie de la Guadalupana Mexicana en las Islas Canarias”: “Stradanus was the engraver of the copperplate (33 x 21,8 cm) used to print the earliest known image of the Guadalupan iconography, incorporating early elements of what would later become the standard representation of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The plate was engraved in his European hometown, though its exact date remains uncertain, some scholars propose 1615, others 1621. Stradanus’s plate was used to print indulgence certificates granting forty days of indulgence, issued by the Archbishop of Mexico Juan Pérez de la Serna (1573–1631) on behalf of the Holy Apostolic See.” A copy of this print is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (“Indulgencias de Limosnas Aplicadas para la Construcción de una Iglesia dedicada a Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe”), and the original copperplate belongs to the collection of the Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico. Unlike that engraving, however, our copperplate is explicitly dated in Mexico, 1623. Other notable works by Stradamus are mentioned by Sidharta Yair Manzano Valenzuela in his thesis, including “Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas” by Antonio de Morga (Balli, 1609), “Sitio, naturaleza y propriedades de la Ciudad de México” by Diego Cisneros (Blanco de Alcázar, 1618), and “Sanctum provinciale concilium Mexici” (Ruiz, 1622). The latter two are preserved at the Historical Library of the Complutense University of Madrid, inventory numbers BH FG 3252 and BH FG 2401, respectively. Manzano highlights in them “the theatricality of the iconographic compositions, constructed mainly through allegory.” We thank the Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía, from Madrid, for its help in identifying the heraldic coat of arms present on our engraving plate. This lot has been imported, therefore its exportation permit from the Spanish Ministry of Culture is guaranteed and is exempt from Spanish culture export duties, for buyer outside the European Union. Bibliographic references: - Calvo Portela, Juan Isaac y Corvera Poirée, Marcela. (2021). "Las estampas que ilustran el libro de Baltasar de Medina, Chronica de la Santa Provincia de San Diego de México, en el contexto del arte gráfico novohispano, del siglo XVII". https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=9416776 - Delgago, Sandra. (12 de octubre de 2020). Samuel Stradanus, primer grabador de Nueva España. "Gaceta. UNAM". https://www.gaceta.unam.mx/samuel-stradanus-primer-grabador-de-nueva-espana/ - Ferreiro Reyes, Natalia. (2007). "Pintura sobre lámina de cobre. Estudio de la colección del Museo Franz Mayer". Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. - Manzano Valenzuela, Sidharta Yair. (2021). "Los impresos novohispanos del siglo XVII". Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. http://eprints.rclis.org/42273/1/Los%20impresos%20novohispanos%20del%20siglo%20XVII.pdf - Mediateca de la INAH. (s.f.). "Diego Carrillo Mendoza y Pimentel, Marqués de Galves". https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/repositorio/islandora/object/fotografia%3A507987 - Toste Basse, Inés Marta. (s.f.). "El Tornaviaje: copias de la Vera Efigie de la Guadalupana Mexicana en las Islas Canarias". Fundación Canaria Orotava de Historia de la Ciencia. https://fundacionorotava.org/media/web/publication_files/publication20__Toste_Tornaviaje.pdf