Attributed to Luis Lagarto (Seville, 1556 - Puebla, 1624)

Attributed to Luis Lagarto (Seville, 1556 - Puebla, 1624)
Parchment illumination. 26 x 23,5 cm.
Lagarto was an important painter and illuminator in the late 16th and early 17th century, consided to be, according to the Mexican Museo Nacional de Arte "one of the best representatives of mannerism of New Spain." His artistic development, despite having been born in Seville, took place mainly in New Spain, where he arrived around 1585, year in which, according to the Blaisten Museum, he was appointed "maestro de primeras letras" (literacy teacher) in the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Mexico.
In 1600 he was commissioned by the canonry of Puebla to illuminate choir books in Puebla cathedra, which was one of his biggest projects. It is the central theme of the exhibition "Al canto de las quimeras. Luis Lagarto y la fábrica de la librería de coro de la Catedral de Puebla" that was held at the Museo Amparo from December 2016 to March 2017.
His watercolours on paper of "The Annunciation" (c. 1610) and "Our Lady of the Rosary with Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Catherine" (1611) are also outstanding. Both of these are in the Mexican Museo Nacional de Arte; there is the miniature "Immaculate Conception" (1619), which can be found in Madrid in the Museo de América; also "The Burial of Christ" (1612), in the Blaisten collection.
We must also mention the contribution made by the historian Guillermo Tovar de Teresa (Mexico, 1956 - 2013) with his monographic on the family of illuminators with the surname Lagarto, called "Un rescate de la Fantasía: El arte de los Lagarto, iluminadores novohispanos de los siglos XVI y XVII" (The art of the Lagarto, New Spanish illuminators of the 16th and 17th centuries) published in 1998.

Bibliographic reference:
- Amador, Marrero, P. F. (2016 - 2017). Al canto de las quimeras. Luis Lagarto y la fábrica de la librería de coro de la Catedral de Puebla. https://museoamparo.com/exposiciones/piezas/77/al-canto-de-las-quimeras-luis-lagarto-y-la-fabrica -de-la-librería-de-coro-de-la-catedral-de-p uebla
- León Mariscal, B. B. (s.f.). La anunciación. http://munal.emuseum.com/objects/1777/la-anunciacion?ctx=4e04c7e3-cc80-4bc5-b850-6d1d959 4227e&idx=0
- Museo Blaisten (s.f.). Luís Lagarto, 1556-1624. https://museoblaisten.com/artista.php?id=253&url=Luis-Lagarto
- Museo Amparo (s.f.). Luis Lagarto. https://museoamparo.com/artistas/perfil/330/luis-lagarto