You are a provincial girl near the age of marriage. Tinder has not been invented. Your privileged criollo parents commission a portrait showing you bedecked in imported silks, expensive jewelry, and watches set to the time in Spain and New Spain. A fully opened flower on your breast signifies your coming of age. Your parents’ family crests and an inscription proclaim your age, legitimacy, and lineage. The portrait will be displayed in your home in view of guests with whom your parents might wish to ally you in marriage. You are María Manuela Esquivel y Serruto. Explore the DNA of San Antonio culture. Explore the language of portraiture.
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This exhibition is presented in collaboration with Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH). The exhibition is generously funded by Bexar County, William and Salomé Scanlan Foundation, Patsy Steves, the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation, NuStar Energy, The Greehey Family Foundation, and Myfe White Moore. This exhibition is supported by the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture. Support for the San Antonio 1718 catalogue was provided by the Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts. CAPTION: Ignacio María Barreda (New Spain, late 18th century), María Manuela Esquivel y Serruto (detail), 1794, Oil on canvas, h. 29 in. (81 cm); w. 37 in. (61 cm), Museo Nacional de Historia, 10-233550, Secretaría de Cultura, INAH, MX. Mexico City. Photography by Francisco Kochen.
sacurrent.com • March 28-April 3, 2018 • CURRENT 17