Juan de Correa

JUAN DE CORREA (Mexico, 1646 - 1716); New Spain middle of the XVIII century.
"Allegory of Africa".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Presents inscription in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 171.5 x 149 cm,
The inscription of this work indicates that it is a painting that represents an allegory of Africa, with a bluish background landscape of Flemish aesthetics. The piece combines the symbolic tradition with the exotic fantasy of Baroque art. In the foreground, the variety of animals, such as the lion and the crocodile, evokes the Eurocentric vision of the wild and the unknown associated with the African continent, while the figure of the black woman, accompanied by a quiver and arrows, reinforces the iconography of Diana the hunter, linking the feminine with strength, nature and hunting. This type of composition resembles the style of The Liberal Arts and the Four Elements by Juan de Correa, especially in the allegorical arrangement of the figures, the chromatic richness and the combination of mythological elements with an idealized vision of the world. Both works reveal a fusion between the European tradition and the reinterpretation of the New World, where allegory becomes a vehicle for projecting cultural, territorial and philosophical conceptions. These popular representations of the four continents, inherently intertwined with the history of colonialism, have their origins in European fantasies of the "exotic other," in which Africa was imagined as an untamed kingdom, ready to be civilized by Europeans.
Because of its formal and stylistic characteristics, this work can be related to the circle of Juan Correa, a Novo-Hispanic painter who worked as a master in valuations of works such as those of Pedro de la Sierra, Juan Isidro, Mateo Martínez de la Colina, Captain Antonio Xiraldo, and Juan Millán de Poblete. He was José de Ibarra's teacher. Much of his work, especially those of Guadalupano theme, arrived in Spain. In 1669 he painted for the chapel of the Spanish Saints, of the city of Rome, a Virgin of Guadalupe with the four apparitions and San Juan Evangelista. His works can be found in the Cathedral of Mexico City, in the temple of Analco in Puebla, in the sacristy of the temple of San Diego in Aguascalientes, in the Church of the Profesa, in the Dominican temple of Oaxtepec, in the old seminary of San Martin, in Tepotzotlán, in the ex-convent of Carmen in San Angel and in the Museum of Art of Philadelphia. Some of Correa's other works have been located in Antigua, Guatemala. On this occasion the artist represents the Virgen del Popolo. It is a supposed portrait of the Virgin made by St. Luke, patron saint of painters, an icon currently preserved in the church of the same name in Rome. Thus, we see the Virgin dressed in a starry mantle, holding in her arms the Child, who also wears a tunic and mantle, although in pink and gold colors. Jesus raises his right hand with two fingers extended, as a sign of blessing. Following the model of the icon of the "Madonna del Popolo", the figures show hieratic and solemn positions, and the gaze is fixed in front, without looking at each other. However, the modeling of the faces and hands shows a clear classical influence, since it is markedly sculptural.