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Collections

Pedro Ramírez el Mozo
The Marriage of the Virgin (Desposorios de la Virgen)1668

On view:
Geffen Galleries
Vertical oil painting of three figures: a bearded bishop in ornate vestments and miter joins the hands of a younger man in green and gold robes and a young woman in teal, with a dove descending from glowing clouds above
Oil painting, half-length figure of a woman with long auburn hair wearing a jeweled crown, crimson bodice with gold ornamental trim, and white chemise sleeves; a second figure's hand rests on her shoulder against a cloudy blue-grey background
Oil painting, close-up detail of a bearded figure in green and ochre robes holding a flowering staff with white blossoms, against a stormy gray sky; smooth brushwork with fine detail in the curling auburn hair and delicate petals.
Oil painting detail showing three pairs of hands; a bearded figure at left in green holds a small gold ring, while a third figure at right extends a pale hand with an embroidered sleeve cuff toward an older bearded figure in dark robes with an ornate gilt-framed jeweled panel behind.
Oil painting detail showing a curled paper scroll with handwritten Latin-script inscription reading 'Pedro Rami[rez],' resting on a dark red brocade surface alongside a pink rose and white blossoms at lower right.
Oil painting, close-up portrait of an elderly bearded man wearing a crimson and gold ceremonial mitre and ornate vestments with a jeweled breastplate, set against a cloudy gray-blue sky.
Oil painting, close-up of a bearded man with curly auburn hair, gaze downcast, a jeweled crown partially visible at upper right, hand raised near chest, soft modeling against a gray-blue background.
Oil painting, close-up portrait of a young woman with long auburn hair, head tilted downward, wearing a gold filigree crown with a small cross and a crimson garment with ornate gold and gemstone neckline, against a gray-brown background, with smooth, finely blended brushwork.
Oil painting detail showing two pairs of hands; one figure places a gold ring with a red stone onto the finger of another whose sleeve shows white lace trim, against a dark embroidered surface.
Oil painting detail showing the torso and hands of a figure with long curling auburn hair, wearing a deep crimson bodice adorned with an elaborate gold filigree necklace and pendant, with a white sheer sleeve featuring gold embroidery at the cuff.
Oil painting detail showing a figure's hands resting at the midsection, wearing a crimson bodice with gold-beaded trim, white sleeves with gold embroidery at the cuff, and a teal draped skirt, rendered with smooth blending against a dark background.
Artist or Maker
Pedro Ramírez el Mozo
Mexico, 1638-1679
Title
The Marriage of the Virgin (Desposorios de la Virgen)
Date Made
1668
Medium
Oil on canvas on panel
Dimensions
Unframed: 75 5/8 × 50 3/8 in. (192.1 × 129 cm); framed: 85 × 60 × 3 1/4 in. (215.9 × 152.4 × 8.26 cm)
Credit Line
Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number
M.2010.97
Classification
Paintings
Collecting Area
Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes

The subject of the Marriage of the Virgin draws on apocryphal accounts of the lives of the saints, such as Jacobus de Voragine’s Golden Legend (c. 1265). Here, the Jewish high priest is flanked by the holy couple, with Joseph holding the flowering staff to signal that he was chosen by God to marry the Virgin. The disembodied hands that reach down from heaven, symbolizing God’s intervention in human affairs, are an unusual detail that gained currency in Mexico and was repeated by several painters in the 1600s, including Luis Juárez (c. 1585–1638); the Sevillian Sebastián López de Arteaga (1610–1655), who arrived in Mexico in 1640; the famous Cristóbal de Villalpando (c. 1649–1714); and Juan Rodríguez Juárez (1675–1728), among others.

Pedro Ramírez el Mozo (the Younger) descended from a prominent Sevillian family of sculptors and altarpiece makers (ensambladores). The large size of this panel suggests that it might have formed part of an altarpiece (retablo) ensemble.

Ilona Katzew

2024

Provenance
Private collection, France, first half of the 20th century; art market, Paris, 1960; María del Carmen de Alfonso Perdomo, Madrid, 1960; Galería Coll & Cortés, Madrid, 2010; LACMA, 2010.
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.
  • Ilona Katzew, “Just Acquired: Spanish Colonial Paintings by Ramirez and Aguilera,” Unframed, October 21, 2010, https://unframed.lacma.org/2010/10/21/just-acquired-spanish-colonial-paintings-by-ramirez-and-aguilera.
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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