Antonio de Espinosa
The Twelve Months of the Year, January–February (Los doce meses del año, enero-febrero)second half of the 17th century

Not on view

Oil painting of a wintry town panorama with dozens of figures in period dress, bare trees, snow-covered rooftops, and the inscriptions 'ENERO.' and 'FEBRERO.' along the lower edge

Oil painting detail showing a group of figures in elaborate costumes in the foreground, including a woman in a blue dress and white headdress beside a man in green and red garments; masked and costumed figures with a bird of prey stand to the left; additional figures with spears visible in the background.

Oil painting detail of a winter scene with heavily crackled surface; at left, a figure in a red coat falls on ice skates, while three figures in broad-brimmed hats and earth-toned clothing look on from the right against a pale grey sky.

Oil painting of a bird's-eye view of a town street with figures in period dress. In the foreground, a group dances or processes; armed soldiers and mounted riders occupy the middle ground. Stone buildings flank a central road leading to a tower, with a snow-dusted hillside and overcast sky in the distance.

Artist or Maker: Antonio de Espinosa
Mexico, Puebla, active second half of the 17th century
Title: The Twelve Months of the Year, January–February (Los doce meses del año, enero-febrero)
Date Made: second half of the 17th century
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Unframed: 31 7/8 × 38 in. (81 × 96.5 cm); framed: 40 1/4 × 46 1/2 × 2 3/8 in. (102.24 × 118.11 × 6.03 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2008.30.1
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: This unusual series of paintings (see also https://collections.lacma.org/node/215549" >M.2008.30.2, https://collections.lacma.org/node/215523" >M.2008.30.3, https://collections.lacma.org/node/215556" >M.2008.30.4, https://collections.lacma.org/node/215550" >M.2008.30.5, and https://collections.lacma.org/node/215597" >M.2008.30.6) exemplifies the circulation and dynamic adaptation of prints in New Spain. Paintings of the twelve months derived from calendar miniatures in medieval books of hours and were popular in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Flemish painting. The images depicted labors associated with the times of the year, often alongside zodiac signs to signal the corresponding months.

Antonio de Espinosa deftly combined several sets of Flemish prints, yet he introduced intriguing variants. In the canvas corresponding to May and June foregrounding the leisure activities of the elite, he included local types dressed in the fashion of the day to render their socioracial differences clear and create a more relatable image for his patrons. The strategic addition of these details enabled Espinosa to insert the entire set within the context of New Spain, demonstrating his ability to creatively engage with and reconfigure his source material.

From exhibition Archive of the World, 2022 (for more information see the catalogue entry by Ilona Katzew with Rachel Kaplan in the accompanying publication, cat. nos. 47–52, pp. 226–31)
Provenance: Private collection, United Kingdom, 1982; Sotheby’s, London, April 27, 2006, lot 49; Rafael Vals Gallery, London, 2006; Caylus Anticuario SA, Madrid, 2006; LACMA, 2008.
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. 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. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

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