On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus (El Sagrado Corazón de Jesús)
Miguel Cabrera Mexican
Not on view
Images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus encircled by a crown of thorns and surmounted by a crucifix were extremely popular in eighteenth-century Mexico, where they were used for private devotion in domestic oratories as well as for public veneration in churches. Miguel Cabrera made a specialty of the theme, which must have appealed to the sensuous spirituality of the period. The most distinctive feature of Cabrera’s treatment of the theme is its anatomical realism, which broke with earlier representations of Christ’s heart as a generic symbol or metaphor.
Las imágenes del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús ceñido por una corona de espinas y rematado por una cruz fueron muy populares en la Nueva España en el siglo XVIII. En todo México se encuentran pequeñas pinturas similares que se emplearon para la devoción privada en altares domésticos y como parte de retablos en las iglesias. Miguel Cabrera se especializó en estas imágenes carnalmente audaces. Los encantadores querubines y su suave pincelada son fundamentales para entender cómo la representación científica de un órgano pudo entrar en las esferas de la espiritualidad amable de la época.
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