Novo-Hispanic school, 18th century.

Novo-Hispanic school, 18th century.
Circle of MIGUEL CABRERA (Mexico, 1695-1768).
‘Saint Gertrudis Magna.
Oil on canvas.
It presents faults and perforations.
Frame of the XVIII century.
Measurements: 112 x 83 cm; 127 x 97,5 x 3 cm (frame).

Miguel Cabrera was one of the leading exponents of Baroque painting of the Viceroyalty. The present devotional painting is based on a painting by Cabrera in the Dallas Museum of Art. The painter must have belonged to Cabrera's circle, but it is not an exact copy. In Cabrera's case, Gertrude's hand shows two outstretched fingers in a gesture symbolising the dual nature of Christ. In our painting, the saint's snowy hand is extended below the heart, which is haloed with the figure of Christ, which is also present in Cabrera's painting. Gertrude, dressed in rigorous black, reads the Scriptures during her monastic stay. During the 18th century the cult of Saint Gertrude the Great was widespread throughout the Spanish empire, and there are numerous representations of her in Castile, Aragon and Portugal, as well as in Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru and Mexico. The image was disseminated in engravings, canvases, sculptures, nuns' coats of arms and medallions, was placed in altarpieces and was included among the most prominent saints in paintings depicting the heavenly court. In addition, she was mentioned in numerous sermons, novenas, prayers, masses and hagiographies, and her life inspired a play in which the saint was called ‘Christ's most beloved’. Undoubtedly this popular diffusion of her image and her story went hand in hand with the spread of the cult, the peak of which can be seen in the first half of the 18th century.