Portrait of an Indian Lady

1757

Name(s) currently unknown

Mexico City, MEX, Museo Franz Mayer (current location)

The young woman in this image was the daughter of a wealthy family, her status signaled not only by her elaborate clothing, but also by the very existence of her portrait, an expensive item in Spanish America. The inscribed text—a common feature in colonial portraits—identifies her as Sebastiana Ynés Josefa de San Agustín, the daughter of an indigenous cacique from Mexico.

This text names the woman in the portrait, Sebastiana Ynés Josepha de San Agustín, and gives her age, 16 years. It also offers a brief genealogy, recording that she is the legitimate daughter of don Mathías Alexo Martínez and doña Thomasa de Dios y Mendiola. The date of the painting, 1757, appears at the bottom of the inscription, as was traditional. The watchful stillness of San Agustín conveys something of her personality, and in this the portrait is exceptional. Her slightly darkened skin also identifies her as an indigenous woman, as does her clothing. Her over-blouse is known as a huipil, an indigenous form of clothing that, although made of exquisite materials, would never have been worn by any but an indigenous woman in the 18th century. Pearls adorn both the sleeves of San Agustín's outfit and her hair. They would have been imported to Mexico City, as would the emeralds in her earrings, which likely came from Colombia. The flower she holds is likely a carnation, a flower of brides and perhaps alluding to the future role of San Agustín as a Bride of Christ. The fan may be from Asia or Europe. It was not only a sign of a woman’s desire for imported objects, but also a standard element in 18th-century portraits of fashionable women.

The historical record shows that Sebastiana Ynés entered the convent of Corpus Christi in Mexico City, a convent dedicated to the daughters of the indigenous elite. The patrons of this painting would most likely have been her family, as it was common in New Spain for wealthy families to commission portraits of their daughters before they entered convents. The painter’s name is today not known, but it was most certainly a man who had been well trained in the conventions of 18th-century portraiture.

This portrait was painted, as were most in the 18th century in Spanish America, of oil paint on canvas. The painting measures 67 cm x 56 cm (ca. 26 x 22 inches), a size not unusual for the time.

A portrait of another indigenous noble-woman who, like Sebastiana Ynés, also entered the convent of Corpus Christi in Mexico City in the 18th century, was held by the convent. While we do not know the collection history of Sebastiana Ynés’ image, it is possible it too entered the convent when she did. Today it is in the Museo Franz Mayer in Mexico City, and has, in recent years, been featured in a number of international exhibitions and catalogues.

While Sebastiana Ynés could at first be mistaken for a wealthy Creole, given her abundant lace and jewels, she also wears a woven huipil, the loose-fitting overdress of indigenous women. Her dark skin further marks her native descent. This portrait thus suggests how the signs of elite status were displayed not only upon the bodies of those of Spanish or European heritage, but also indigenous women. Being Spanish or Creole offered a person considerable social and economic privilege in the 18th century. Yet the indigenous elites proudly defended, even amplified, their distinct cultural patterns and privileges. Sebastiana Ynés’ portrait is modeled upon that of an elite Spanish woman, yet her embroidered huipil reveals the overlap of different sign systems within a single representation as well as the patterns of everyday life.

Reproduced courtesy of the Museo Franz Mayer

Dana Leibsohn and Barbara E. Mundy.
Vistas: Visual Culture in Spanish America, 1520-1820. http://www.fordham.edu/vistas, 2015.

Ruiz Gomar, Rogelio. 2002. “Portrait of an Indian Lady, Daughter of a Cacique/ Retrato de india cacique” in The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico: Treasures from the Museo Franz Mayer/ La grandeza del México virreinal: tesoros del Museo Franz Mayer. Houston and Mexico City: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Museo Franz Mayer, 94-95.

Pierce, Donna, Rogelio Ruiz Gomar, and Clara Bargellini. 2004. Painting a New World: Mexican Art and Life, 1521-1821. Denver: Frederick and Jan Mayer Center for Pre-Columbian and Spanish Colonial Art at the Denver Art Museum.

El retrato civil en la Nueva España. 1991. Mexico: INBA-Museo Nacional de San Carlos.