Collections: European Art: Don José María (Gómez de) Cervantes y Altamirano de Velasco

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Don José María (Gómez de) Cervantes y Altamirano de Velasco

This portrait depicts Don José Marí­a as a proud young aristocrat. The sitter wears a splendid silk dress coat and vest lavishly embroidered with flowers in the Neoclassical style. A high collar partially covers a magnificent lace frill matched by lace sleeves. He carries a black tricorn hat under his left arm and inserts his right hand into his vest, in a gesture common in male portraits of the period including Jeremiah Theus's image, hanging nearby, of a youthful North American (30.59).

Born in Mexico, Don José Marí­a (Gómez de) Cervantes y Altamirano de Velasco (1786 1856) entered the royal army with the rank of Captain of the Distinguished Patriot of Ferdinand VII in 1810, rising to commander, and then to colonel by 1813. He began to sympathize with the rebels in 1815, joined the independence movement, and signed the Act of Independence of the Mexican Empire in 1821.

• Artist: Ignacio Ayala, Mexican, 1786-1856
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Place Made: Mexico
• Dates: 1802
• Dimensions: 33 x 25 1/8in. (83.8 x 63.8cm)
• Signature: Lower right " Ygnacio Ayala pto. Mo. a. 1802."
• Inscriptions: Bottom: "El Sor. Dn Joseph Ma Cervantes y Velasco Padilla y Obando, de 17 años de edad./año de 1802."
• Collections: European Art
• Museum Location: This item is not on view
• Accession Number: 52.166.7
• Credit Line: Museum Collection Fund and the Dick S. Ramsay Fund
• Image: Overall, 52.166.7.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Ignacio Ayala (Mexican, 1786-1856). Don José María (Gómez de) Cervantes y Altamirano de Velasco, 1802. Oil on canvas, 33 x 25 1/8in. (83.8 x 63.8cm). Brooklyn Museum, 52.166.7 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 52.166.7.jpg)