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.
Portrait of Pedro Sánchez de Tagle, Second Marquis of Altamira (Retrato de Pedro Sánchez de Tagle, II marqués de Altamira)
Attributed to Juan Rodríguez Juárez Mexican
Not on view
Born in Santillana del Mar, Spain, Pedro Sánchez de Tagle immigrated to Mexico, becoming one of the most powerful merchants in the viceroyalty. He is portrayed wearing a fashionable powdered wig, brown jacket, and chapeau-bras (literally, "arm hat"). The red cross of the Order of Calatrava is prominently embroidered next to his heart.
A striking aspect of the portrait is its frank depiction of the sitter, with gaunt, emaciated features and bushy, graying eyebrows. It was commissioned for the prestigious Carmelite convent of San Sebastián in Mexico City and paired with a painting of Viceroy Fernando de Alencastre Noroña y Silva, Duke of Linares (r.1710–16), to show the exemplary nature of both sitters.
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