Adoration of the Shepherds

Adoration of the Shepherds

1610
Artist
Luis Lagarto, Spanish, 1556- after 1619
Born: Seville, Spain
Work Locations: Seville, Spain, Puebla, Mexico
Locale
Puebla, Mexico
Country
Mexico
Style/Tradition
Puebla School
Object
painting
Medium
Gouache paint on parchment with gold leaf
Accession Number
2014.211
Credit Line
Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer

Luis Lagarto, Adoration of the Shepherds, 1610. Gouache (opaque watercolor) on parchment with gold leaf; 10 × 8 in. Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 2014.211.

Dimensions
image height: 10 in, 25.4000 cm; image width: 8 in, 20.3200 cm; frame height: 21.5 in, 54.6100 cm; frame width: 12 in, 30.48 cm
Inscription
Luis Lagarto 1610
Department
Mayer Center, Latin American Art
Collection
Latin American Art

Luis Lagarto (c. 1556-after 1619), the most famous book illuminator who worked in colonial Mexico, was apparently born in Seville, Spain, to the family of Juan Lagarto de Castro, a well-known teacher and illuminator. In Mexico by 1586, Luis Lagarto introduced the European tradition of book illumination to the Americas where he worked in both Mexico City and Puebla. Both of his sons became artists and continued the family tradition in Mexico into the late seventeenth century.

This example, signed and dated 1610 in the lower right, is the earliest dated painting by Lagarto and one of his most celebrated pieces. The painting demonstrates Lagarto's exquisite style, delicate execution, and his palette of rich pastels with jewel tones for accents and goldleaf details. It also demonstrates the quality of some of the immigrant artists who made their way to the Americas.

– Donna Pierce, 2015

Known Provenance
Gifted 25 November 2014 by the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer to the Denver Art Museum. Provenance research is on-going at the Denver Art Museum. Please e-mail provenance@denverartmuseum.org, if you have questions, or if you have additional information to share with us.
Exhibition History
  • "Painting a New World: Mexican Art and Life 1521 - 1821," Denver Art Museum (April 3 - July 25, 2004) and Meadows Museum of Art (September 1 - October 31, 2004). "The Arts of Latin America 1492 - 1820," Philadelphia Musuem of Art (September 2006 - December 2006), Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City (winter/spring 2007), and Los Angeles County Museum of Art (summer 2007).