Miguel Cabrera (Mexican, 1695–1768). <em>Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez de Cervantes</em>, ca. 1760. Oil on canvas, 43 x 33 in. (109.2 x 83.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund and Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 52.166.4 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 52.166.4_PS20.jpg)

Miguel Cabrera (Mexican, 1695–1768). Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez de Cervantes, ca. 1760. Oil on canvas, 43 x 33 in. (109.2 x 83.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund and Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 52.166.4 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 52.166.4_PS20.jpg)

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What are the spots on this painting?

That painting is by a Mexican artist named Miguel Cabrera. The woman is wearing several artificial beauty marks on her face. They are small circles of black silk or other fabric that she would temporarily paste onto her skin. In the 18th century, they were thought to enhance the wearer's beauty.

Were the spots added later? They appear raised.

I think that effect may just be the application of the paint -- since they are original to the painting.

Can you tell me a little about this?

This is a portrait of Dona Maria de la Luz, a Creole patron of the artist. She is painted wearing a silk brocade dress with jewelry and chiqueadores, or glued false beauty spots, made of black velvet. Dona Maria de la Luz came from a well known family, the Cervantes, who allied themselves with another powerful family, the Velasco family. Her dress, jewels, and chiquadores would have been the height of fashion in Mexico City in the 18th century.

Which of these women was wealthier?

Both women were wealthy. Even if we didn't know anything about them, we could guess this, because portraits were luxury items in the 18th century and only the elite owned fine portraits like these.

However, eighteenth century Spanish America was generally wealthier than British America. (The woman in yellow is Spanish-American, and the woman in rose and green is British-American.)

The British-American colonies hasn't yet established themselves in international trade the way Spain's colonies had, and the British colonists were still working to market their colonies' natural resources.

Spain was exporting gold and silver from places like Mexico, but the British-American colonies (Copley painted portraits in New England, for example) were not yet doing business on that scale, so the Spanish territories often had more money.

What is on her face?

Great question! The dots were made intentionally as beauty marks, which were quite popular at the time. The dots are small circles of black velvet or other fabric that a woman would temporarily paste onto her skin. In the 18th century, they were thought to enhance the wearer's beauty.

I'm wondering a few things: what are the mole-like spots on her face? Why does she look so somber? Also, is there any significance to her choker and the ruby and diamond ring on her right hand?

The spots on her face are called chiqueadores and were essentially false beauty marks. They were in vogue in Europe in the 1500s and 1600s. They were used to enhance the wearer's beauty but also for a more practical purpose, since they could hide scars or blemishes caused by smallpox.

If you look around that gallery at the other portraits, you will probably notice that most people depicted there have the similar sort of blank, disengaged stare. This was simply a stylistic choice of the time. Painted portraiture was eventually (in the later 1800s) replaced by photography and if you see very early black and white photographs, you will notice also that no one is smiling or laughing! Very different than what we practice in our "selfies" today!

Rococo fashion at this time was very elaborate. The detailed pattern on the dress and elaborate jewelry would have been in high fashion.

During this period, jewelry was usually handcrafted---gold was hammered before artisans began working with it---and gold was often worked into ornate forms (this brought to mind her necklace). Also, chokers were in fashion in the 1700-1800s, as were oval shaped rings. By putting herself in these various jewels and fashionable styles, the sitter was telling anyone who saw this portrait that she was a woman of status who had beautiful things.

Are these beauty marks?

Yes, they are! Beginning in the late sixteenth century, fashionable men and women imitated natural beauty marks by sticking black beauty patches on their faces. These patches were sometimes used to send signals to members of the opposite sex in flirtatious courtship rituals, but they had a practical use as well. They could be applied to hide blemishes and scars on the face, especially the deep round scars left on those who survived the frequent outbreaks of smallpox.

I love how we can see the history of fashion in this painting, and how the concept of what is beautiful changes so much.

For example, beauty patches went out of style shortly after 1796, when a cure was found for small pox.

Fascinating! Adds a lot to the perception of the piece.

Why does the Dona Maria have moles on her face? Is that a mistake?

She is wearing several fake beauty marks because it was considered exceptionally stylish and beautiful at the time!

They were made from velvet fabric and they were applied to the face with adhesive. Similar to temporary tattoos, in a way!

This is awesome!

This woman has got to be the wealthiest, right?

Both portraits are intended to convey the wealth, elegance, and elite status of the sitter through material means, but due to different national tastes and fashions they do so rather differently. Any particular reason you thought Mrs. Abigail Pickman Gardiner here is the wealthier of the two?

The other woman seemed to be more ostentatious in her display of wealth, maybe trying harder to cover up a less-than-affluent status.

Interesting, so like a "nouveau riche"!

Yes, exactly!

In her particular case though, that's not the case. Doña Maria de la Luz Padilla y Cervantes (1732-1789) came from the well-known and impeccable Cervantes lineage, who allied themselves through marriage to another very prestigious and old family, the Velasco, who were former viceroys of New Spain (Mexico) and Peru. Here she is represented in the pinnacle of fashion for 18th-century Mexico City. Her fine Chinese silk brocade dress was probably imported from Valencia, Spain, and is enhanced by her powdered hair, elaborate jewelry and her five chiqueadores (the glued false beauty spots made of black velvet.)

Mrs. Gardiner on the other hand was the wife of the wealthy landowner and physician Sylvester Gardiner, who had made his fortune importing drugs for distribution and sale. (So she was more the "nouveau riche" of the two!) She is shown in a daringly uncorseted costume "à la turque," which was all the rage in London and served to attest to Mrs. Gardner's modern taste. Although her elegant costume seems less extravagant than Doña Maria's, its yards of silk and subtle pearl trim were not cheap.

And of course, Mrs. Gardner's substantial figure also conveyed her affluence. In the 18th century, extra body weight was a sign of being able to afford a plentiful diet.

Woah. That's incredible. That's maybe what threw us off: her weight relative to the other. Thanks!

No problem!

Who was wealthier? Abigail Pickman or Dona Cervantes?

Both women were wealthy. Even if we didn't know anything about them, we could guess this, because portraits were luxury items in the 18th century and only elite owned fine portraits like these. There might be clues of their status based on their clothing.

I think Cervantes' clothes look more expensive because of the materials and the amount of work that went into making them

Great observation! Typically during this period the Spanish dressed in this very luxurious way. Spain was exporting gold and silver from places like Mexico, but the English-American colonies (where Copley painted portraits, in New England) were not doing business on that scale so the Spanish territories often had more money.

What are the spots on her face?

Those are known as "chiqueadores" or false beauty marks. Women would glue these small velvet or fabric spots onto their faces because it was thought to be beautiful. They also served a practical purpose of covering up any marks left over from smallpox if the individual had suffered from the sickness.

Was this portrait damaged?

This portrait has experienced some light conservation around the edges, but nothing major. If you're referring to the black spots on her face, those were actually the height of fashion in much of 18th century Europe and its colonies.

Wow, that's interesting.

Indeed! Chiqueadores, or false beauty marks, were used to cover scars on the face. They were also worn just as accessories, like makeup or temporary tattoos! They fell out of fashion when the rise of the smallpox vaccine meant that most people didn't have scars to cover.

The Brooklyn Museum owns another portrait of Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez de Cervantes as a five-year-old girl. Even in that portrait she already wears chiqueadores. She was THAT fashionable!

The label says the sitter portrayed in this portrait is wearing false beauty spots called "chiqueadores." I've never heard of these before and am curious about when and where these "chiqueadores" were in fashion?

They were very fashionable in the eighteenth century throughout Europe and European colonies, particularly among the upper class. While the ones you see here are more naturalistic, sometimes false beauty marks would be shaped like hearts or stars.

Wow, that's super interesting. Thanks!

There is what appears to be a stamp on her hair, is this intended?

I believe this represents a decorative hair clip made of gold or some other precious metal, another symbol of her wealth, status, and beauty!

Cool, thank you.

You're welcome!

Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez de Cervantes

Miguel Cabrera

American Art

On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Several Seats

Portraits of Pan-American Privilege

These women’s ancestors were among the first European colonizers of the Americas. Some of those colonists crossed the Atlantic to serve the global ambitions of the various crowns of Europe, and others came as economic and religious refugees from Spain, England, and the Dutch Republic. By the eighteenth century, fabulous fortunes had been amassed throughout the region, reflected here in the European-inspired dress and jewelry worn by three privileged Americans.

Miguel Cabrera, eighteenth-century Mexico’s premier painter, portrayed Doña María de la Luz wearing imported silk brocade and five chiqueadores, or glued false beauty spots. Boston’s leading portraitist, John Singleton Copley, painted the monarchist Abigail Pickman Gardiner sporting an uncorseted dress—probably the artist’s invention, since the style was considered inappropriate in New England society but was the height of London fashion. The Hudson Valley portraitist Nehemiah Partridge captured Wyntje Van Vechten’s likeness with more restraint, emphasizing her simple hairstyle, minimal jewelry, and modest dress.

ARTIST Miguel Cabrera, Mexican, 1695–1768

MEDIUM Oil on canvas

Place Made: Mexico

DATES ca. 1760

DIMENSIONS 43 x 33 in. (109.2 x 83.8 cm) frame: 57 x 41 x 8 in. (144.8 x 104.1 x 20.3 cm) (show scale)

INSCRIPTIONS Middle left: "D.n Maria d la Lus /Padilla y Cervantes/ Mich.l Cabrera Pinxt"

COLLECTIONS American Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 52.166.4

CREDIT LINE Museum Collection Fund and Dick S. Ramsay Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Dona Maria de la Luz Padilla y Cervantes (1732-1789). An oil painting by Miguel Cabrera which shows Dona Maria as a grown young lady. She is the same person as the preceding portrait as an adult. She is shown in a three-quarter view and length in a dress with heavy gold embroidery in a floral pattern against a white background. Her hair is powdered and she has beauty patches on her face. She wears elaborate jewels in her ears, at her neck, and a pectoral, also jewel rings and bracelets. She stands in front of a gold curtain and holds a fan in her right hand and flowers in her left hand. Condition: Good, it has been restored around the edges and on the dress b the Museum Laboratory.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Several Seats

CAPTION Miguel Cabrera (Mexican, 1695–1768). Doña María de la Luz Padilla y Gómez de Cervantes, ca. 1760. Oil on canvas, 43 x 33 in. (109.2 x 83.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund and Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 52.166.4 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 52.166.4_PS20.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 52.166.4_PS20.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2024

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