Spanish school could be note from Italy; second half of the XVII century.

Spanish school could be note of Italy; second half of the seventeenth century.
"Scene with African lady, young man and cat".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Measurements: 68 x 61 cm.
Double portrait in which the artist uses a trompe l'oeil to configure the scene. The lower area, where the cat rests, gives way to a second plane where the bust of a black-skinned woman whose dress hangs a cross. Behind her, a man completes the scene. It is probable that it is a caste painting or is inspired by one.
This type of painting was very common in the Spanish territories in colonial America, showing the "results" of the different crosses of what were then considered different races, making clear the differences in features, skin tone, etc. although the faces were usually also idealized, almost always detailing the names of that social type with more or less concise inscriptions. Note, for example, the cycle preserved in the Museum of America in Madrid, the 18th century work in the National Museum of the Viceroyalty in Tepotzotlán, another painting in the National Museum of Anthropology of Madrid, etc. It is necessary to note that few names of these "races" were common to almost all the territory, existing numerous variations of vocabulary according to regions.