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Collections

Circle of Luis Lezana the Younger
Monstrance (Custodia)circa 1675-1700

On view: David Geffen GalleriesPicturing the Divine in Spanish America
Tall gold monstrance with starburst disc, enameled stem, cherub figures, and jeweled polychrome decoration throughout
Gilt metal table clock with a tall, slender form rising from an ornate square base on scroll feet. The stem features enamel miniature plaques, figural mounts, and scrolling acanthus ornament; a horizontal dial wheel at the top with engraved detailing.
Gilt metal monstrance with a sunburst-shaped gloria featuring eight radiating points, set with multicolored enamel and gemstone accents; an ornate stem with figural knop rises from a stepped, footed base decorated with scrollwork and polychrome enamel detailing.
Gilt metal table clock with elaborate ornamental stacking: a wide, footed base with figural mounts and pierced decoration supports a central baluster shaft adorned with dark blue enamel cartouches and scrolling acanthus leaves, rising to a cylindrical clock case and a tall finial with stacked ornamental elements.

Circle of Luis Lezana the Younger, Monstrance (Custodia), circa 1675-1700, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Artist or Maker
Circle of Luis Lezana the Younger
Cuzco, active 1665-1713
Title
Monstrance (Custodia)
Place Made
Peru, Cuzco
Date Made
circa 1675-1700
Medium
Silver gilt with enamel, cast and chased
Dimensions
Height: 31 1/2 in. (80 cm); base: 11 1/8 × 11 1/8 in. (28 × 28 cm); sun’s diameter: 12 3/8 in. (31.5 cm)
Credit Line
Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number
M.2021.103a-b
Classification
Furnishings
Collecting Area
Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes

This monstrance, or container for displaying the Holy Sacrament (the wafer consumed during the Mass), is profusely ornamented with colored champlevé enamelwork. A distinguishing feature is its cube-shaped central node with four niches that enclose various saints (Joseph, Anthony of Padua, Peter Nolasco, and Raymond Nonnatus), all made of painted, cast silver. While the design of the base is typical of late seventeenth-century Cuzco monstrances, the winged mermaids with vegetal tails that serve as supports are distinctive details. The sol (the sun-shaped section designed to contain the consecrated host) is surrounded by a circle of rays, topped with knobs and finials and decorated with a multitude of cherub heads crowned with colorful feathers.

Attributed to the circle of Luis de Lezana the Younger, the monstrance exemplifies the remarkable level of craftsmanship that this type of vessel achieved under the Spanish-born bishop Manuel de Mollinedo y Angulo (r. 1673–99). A staunch royalist, Mollinedo sought to reform local parishes in Peru and embellish the churches across his diocese. He commissioned more than eighty gilded monstrances similar to this one, which are also frequently depicted in contemporaneous Cuzco paintings (see M.2021.42).

Ilona Katzew

2024

Provenance
Collection of Alberto Cruz Eizaguirre (1909–1967), Santiago, Chile; by inheritance to his son Carlos Alberto Cruz Claro (b. 1933; Apelles Collection), Santiago, Chile, c. 1967; Jaime Eguiguren Art & Antiques, Buenos Aires, 2016; LACMA, 2021.
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. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
  • 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 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

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