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Collections

José de Páez
Friar’s Badge with the Nativity (Medallón de fraile con la Natividad)circa 1768

On view:
Geffen Galleries
Small oval painting on a pierced metal plaque depicting a nativity scene, with a newborn in a manger flanked by two kneeling adults, a descending dove, and an elderly bearded figure surrounded by cherubs in the sky above
Close-up detail of a painted surface in brown and gray tones, with a red cursive Latin-script signature inscription reading "Joph. de Paez fecit."
Artist or Maker
José de Páez
Mexico, 1721-circa 1790
Title
Friar’s Badge with the Nativity (Medallón de fraile con la Natividad)
Date Made
circa 1768
Medium
Oil on copper
Dimensions
4 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (11.4 × 8.9 cm)
Credit Line
Purchased with funds provided by the Joseph B. Gould Foundation
Accession Number
M.2005.59
Classification
Paintings
Collecting Area
Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes

This simple portrayal of the birth of Jesus shows him lying in a manger attended by his parents, Mary and Joseph. The scene is depicted on a badge worn by the Bethlehemite Brothers, a hospital order dedicated to educating poor children and helping the sick. The order was established around 1660 in Guatemala and quickly spread throughout Spanish America. Its founder, Pedro de San José de Betancourt (1626–1667), was profoundly devoted to the Virgin of Bethlehem and the mystery of the Nativity. José de Páez painted several badges for the order, which members were required to wear on their capes.

Ilona Katzew

2024

Provenance
Keen family, Buenos Aires, 19th century; by inheritance to Federico Keen (d. 1990) and Margarita Brown (d. 2014), c. 1920; by inheritance to their son Jeremy Keen, Buenos Aires, c. 1990; Jaime Eguiguren Art & Antiques, Buenos Aires, 1997; LACMA, 2005.
Selected Bibliography
  • Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.
Selected Exhibition History
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
  • Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

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