The Marriage of the Virgin (Los Desposorios de la Virgen)

1745
Not on view
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
Nicolás Enríquez was a member of the first academy of painters established in Mexico by the brothers Nicolás and Juan Rodríguez Juárez in about 1722. This unusually large painting on copper is one of a series of four that depict scenes from the life of the Virgin. The Marriage of the Virgin is loosely based on a composition by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), while The Adoration of the Kings references a major work by Juan Rodríguez Juárez in Mexico City’s cathedral. By evoking these works, Enríquez demonstrated that local sources were as significant as European ones in the creative process of New Spanish painters.



Nicolás Enríquez fue miembro de la primera academia de pintores establecida en México hacia 1722 por los hermanos Nicolás y Juan Rodríguez Juárez. Este grupo de pinturas sobre cobre destaca por su gran formato y por citar obras tanto locales como europeas. La escena de Los Desposorios de la Virgen está libremente inspirada en una composición de Pedro Pablo Rubens (1577–1640), mientras que otras obras remiten a obras importantes de predecesores de Enríquez en la catedral metropolitano como La Adoración de los Reyes (1719/20) de Juan Rodríguez. Al evocar estas obras, Enríquez sitúa en igualdad de condiciones a la tradición pictórica local y la europea como parte del proceso creativo de los pintores novohispanos.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Marriage of the Virgin (Los Desposorios de la Virgen)
  • Artist: Nicolás Enríquez (Mexican, 1704–1790)
  • Date: 1745
  • Culture: Mexican
  • Medium: Oil on copper (Óleo sobre cobre)
  • Dimensions: Frame: 49 1/4 × 41 1/2 × 2 3/4 in. (125.1 × 105.41 × 6.99 cm); Unframed: 41 3/8 × 32 11/16 in. (105 × 83 cm)
  • Credit Line: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by Kelvin Davis, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, Kathy and Frank Baxter, Beth and Josh Friedman, and Jane and Terry Semel through the 2012 Collectors Committee (M.2012.38.1)

    Los Angeles County Museum of Art, adquirido con fondos de Kelvin Davis, Lynda y Stewart Resnick, Kathy y Frank Baxter, Beth y Josh Friedman, y Jane y Terry Semel a través del 2012 Collectors Committee (M.2012.38.1)
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing