This painting and its pair (see M.2025.32.1) are not portraits of individuals but of different racial types. In fact, they are groundbreaking precursors of the famous casta (caste) paintings—a distinctive and highly complex genre invented in Mexico in the eighteenth century to depict multiracial families (see M.2014.223, M.2009.62, M.2011.20.1, M.2011.20.2, and M.2011.20.3). Intended to be exported to Europe to provide a glimpse of colonial life, the works are the first to codify Mexico’s diverse population and inventive sartorial practices.
The man wears an idiosyncratic Anglo-French three-piece suit—a hallmark of modernity—combined with a Spanish cape, broad-brimmed hat, and white neckcloth or cravat. The red insignia embroidered on his velvet jacket signals his knighthood as a member of the prestigious religious and military Order of Santiago. His sword—a privilege allowed only to Spaniards—reinforces his high social standing. He reaches into his pocket with one hand and in the other holds a cigarette that he’s about to light up in the brazier carried by the boy behind him. (Tobacco was a local staple that produced great revenue for the Spanish crown.)
Manuel de Arellano came from a prominent dynasty of artists active in Mexico City. He trained with his father, Antonio de Arellano (1638–1714), and by 1690 he was working independently and creating paintings marked by a great deal of experimentation. His informal depictions of racial types developed during a period of mounting social and racial tensions in Mexico City, when Europeans believed the colony to be inhabited by unruly hybrids. Arellano’s works responded to these concerns by constructing a view of a mixed yet orderly and prosperous society.
Ilona Katzew
2025
