Rediscovering Gaspar de Figueroa: A Technical Examination of the Portrait of Friar Cristóbal de Torres, Archbishop of the New Kingdom of Granada

Abstract

ABSTRACT Gaspar de Figueroa (c.1594-1658) was a prolific painter in seventeenth-century Santafé de Bogotá, New Kingdom of Granada (modern-day Colombia). The portrait of Cristóbal de Torres, painted in 1643, is one of the rare-signed examples of works by the artist that exist. This article focuses on the technical examination of the painting using well-established imaging techniques, fiber analysis, optical microscopy of paint sample cross-sections and SEM-EDX. The choice and handling of the materials and the painting's built up showed proficient knowledge of the craft, the appropriation and local adaptation of European painting techniques, and the collaborative character of the artist's painting practice. Emphasis is given to the color palette, which is rich in locally sourced, high-quality earths, including the unusual blue earth pigment vivianite, and red lake pigments. This paper comes at an opportune time as it coincides with the increasing art historical interest in the exhibition and research of Colonial Latin American Art. Moreover, it opens a broad avenue of research that promises to contribute to the understanding of Gaspar de Figueroa's technique, to lead to a better-established oeuvre for the artist and to a greater knowledge of the art of painting in the New Kingdom of Granada.