| Bishop Luis Ignacio
Maria de Peñalver y Cárdenas José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza (c. Mid-1700s-1802) 1801 Oil on canvas |
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| Bishop Luis Ignacio
Maria de Peñalver y Cárdenas José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza (c. Mid-1700s-1802) 1801 Oil on canvas |
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| The earliest identified
professional artist residing and working in Louisiana was
José Salazar. Originally from Mérida on the Yucatán
Peninsula of Mexico, Salazar and his family moved to
Spanish-ruled New Orleans around 1782. Already an
accomplished artist, he received numerous commissions to
paint the portraits of prominent families and community
leaders. Under his tutelage, his daughter Francisca
became an artist and worked with him in his studio. A
fire in March 1788 burned down the Salazar’s home
and Père Antoine permitted them to build a small cabin
in the Presbytere garden. Commissioned by Charity Hospital, Salazar painted this full-length portrait of Bishop Luis Ignacio Maria de Peñalver y Cárdenas to reflect the subject’s position as the bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas. Born in Havana, Cuba, Cárdenas earned his theology degree from the local university in 1771. After serving as administrator of the Diocese of Havana, he was appointed in 1793 the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas. To enhance the official nature of the portrait, Salazar added a scroll in the lower left corner. A copy of this portrait painted by Salazar’s daughter Francisca for the St. Louis Cathedral was unfortunately lost in the Cabildo fire of 1988. The Louisiana State Museum has a notable selection of Salazar’s portraits, consisting of the group portrait of The Family of Doctor Joseph Montegut, the life-size signed portrait of Andrés Almonester y Roxas, a pair of portraits from the school of Salazar of Michel Dragon and his daughter Marianne Celeste Dragon, and a pendant pair of portraits of Ignacio de Balderes and Senora Ignacio de Balderes and Child from the school of Salazar. The museum organized and exhibition of Salazar’s paintings, José Salazar: Louisiana’s Eighteenth Century Portrait Artist, in 1981 at the Cabildo. By the
School of Salazar: |
