Mexican baroque exhibition in New York

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met), located in New York City , announced an exhibition dedicated to Cristóbal de Villalpando (1649-1714), considered the most important painter of Mexico's viceroyalty period and one of the most innovative artists in the Hispanic world.

The exhibition, titled “ Cristóbal de Villalpando: Mexican painter of the Baroque ” includes his first masterpiece, a monumental painting that bears the title of the biblical passage that it represents: " Moses and the bronze serpent and the transfiguration of Jesus ."

In a statement, the Met indicated that this work consists of a canvas of 8.5 meters (27 feet) high, painted in 1683 for a chapel of the Cathedral of Puebla and was recently restored. The painting has never been exhibited outside its place of origin.

Open to the public as of July 25, the exhibition will also display 10 other works, most of which have never been presented in the United States .

Among the most notable works of Villalpando are the newly discovered " Adoration of the Magi ," on loan from Fordham University , and " El Dulce Nombre de María ," from the Museum of the Basilica of Guadalupe .

Organized by the New York Met and Banamex Cultural Promotion , the exhibition was also supported by Citibanamex, the Diez Morodo Foundation, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) and the Consulate General of Mexico in New York.

Born in Mexico City around the middle of the 17th century , it is possible that Cristóbal de Villalpando began his career in the workshop of Baltasar de Echave Rioja (1632-1682).

Villalpando's rise to prominence coincided with the death of Echave Rioja in 1682 , just a year before Villalpando painted his ambitious "Moses and the bronze serpent and the transfiguration of Jesus."

The New Spain painter achieved fame during his life: he received prestigious commissions and was appointed director of the guild of painters in Mexico City.

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