Miguel Cabrera
The Divine Shepherdess (La Divina Pastora)circa 1760

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Oil painting of a seated woman in a blue cloak and wide-brimmed hat, holding a shepherd's crook, surrounded by white lambs and cherubs, with two putti lowering a golden crown above her head

Oil painting in a tortoiseshell and ivory inlaid frame. A seated woman in blue mantle, red dress, and wide-brimmed hat holds a staff while surrounded by white lambs and cherubs; two putti above lower a golden crown. Landscape background with trees and sky. Cartouche at bottom with Spanish text in Latin script.

Artist or Maker: Miguel Cabrera
Mexico, circa 1710-1768
Title: The Divine Shepherdess (La Divina Pastora)
Date Made: circa 1760
Medium: Oil on copper, tortoiseshell and bone frame
Dimensions: Unframed: 9 1/2 × 7 3/16 in. (24.1 × 18.3 cm); framed: 13 1/2 × 11 1/4 × 1 1/8 in. (34.3 × 28.6 × 2.9 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2008.31
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: In 1703, the Capuchin friar Isidore of Seville (1602–1750) commissioned a painting depicting a vision he had of the Virgin Mary. According to his instructions, the work had to portray the Virgin wearing a red gown, blue mantle, and shepherdess hat, seated on a rock feeding roses to her flock, while Saint Michael saved a stray sheep ensnared by the Devil. This new devotional image became popular across the Hispanic world. An effigy of the Virgin also attracted a following at the Royal Convent of San Gil in Madrid, which inspired a range of printed and painted copies. Mexico witnessed the creation of some of the most original variants of the subject early in the eighteenth century, spurred by the affection of Spanish immigrants, the circulation of Isidore’s accounts, and the profusion of engravings. The celebrated Mexican painter Miguel Cabrera produced a number of versions, both large and small. The Spanish inscription at the bottom of this intimate devotional image reads, “The Divine Shepherdess of souls venerated at San Gil in Madrid,” suggesting that it was commissioned by a Spaniard with ties to Madrid and the convent of San Gil, eager to return to his homeland with a work by one of the most prestigious painters of New Spain.

Ilona Katzew

2024
Provenance: Private collection, Madrid; Antigüedades Gusano, Madrid, 2004; private collection, 2004; Caylus Anticuario SA, Madrid, 2005; 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. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

Related Exhibitions

Miguel Cabrera
The Divine Shepherdess (La Divina Pastora)circa 1760

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Artist or Maker: Miguel Cabrera
Mexico, circa 1710-1768
Title: The Divine Shepherdess (La Divina Pastora)
Date Made: circa 1760
Medium: Oil on copper, tortoiseshell and bone frame
Dimensions: Unframed: 9 1/2 × 7 3/16 in. (24.1 × 18.3 cm); framed: 13 1/2 × 11 1/4 × 1 1/8 in. (34.3 × 28.6 × 2.9 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2008.31
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: In 1703, the Capuchin friar Isidore of Seville (1602–1750) commissioned a painting depicting a vision he had of the Virgin Mary. According to his instructions, the work had to portray the Virgin wearing a red gown, blue mantle, and shepherdess hat, seated on a rock feeding roses to her flock, while Saint Michael saved a stray sheep ensnared by the Devil. This new devotional image became popular across the Hispanic world. An effigy of the Virgin also attracted a following at the Royal Convent of San Gil in Madrid, which inspired a range of printed and painted copies. Mexico witnessed the creation of some of the most original variants of the subject early in the eighteenth century, spurred by the affection of Spanish immigrants, the circulation of Isidore’s accounts, and the profusion of engravings. The celebrated Mexican painter Miguel Cabrera produced a number of versions, both large and small. The Spanish inscription at the bottom of this intimate devotional image reads, “The Divine Shepherdess of souls venerated at San Gil in Madrid,” suggesting that it was commissioned by a Spaniard with ties to Madrid and the convent of San Gil, eager to return to his homeland with a work by one of the most prestigious painters of New Spain.

Ilona Katzew

2024
Provenance: Private collection, Madrid; Antigüedades Gusano, Madrid, 2004; private collection, 2004; Caylus Anticuario SA, Madrid, 2005; 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. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024