Juan Pedro Lopez (Viceroyalty of New Granada, Currently Venezuela, 1724 - 1787)

Juan Pedro Lopez (Viceroyalty of New Granada, Currently Venezuela, 1724 - 1787)
“Pentecost” and ‘The birth of St. John the Baptist’.
Pair of oil paintings on canvas.
95,5 x 62,5 cm each.

Magnificent pair of oval oil paintings with two completely different scenes of a religious character: “Pentecost” and “The birth of St. John the Baptist”,
These two paintings, attributable with total certainty to the Venezuelan colonial painter Juan Pedro López (1724-1787), are remarkable for their detailed composition, religious iconography and the remarkable technical quality that characterizes the art from this Caracas workshop.
Master Juan Pedro López was one of the few artists in all of Latin America who made his own frames. These paintings are perfect examples of Juan Pedro López's talent, both in painting and in the creation of frames.
Lopez is recognized for his baroque style, characterized by a balance between dramatization and meticulous detail. Both paintings demonstrate his skill in handling chiaroscuro, creating depth and directing the viewer's gaze to the central elements of the composition. The diagonal lines and soft curves, common in the Baroque tradition, bring dynamism and movement to the scenes. A key aspect that supports the attribution of these works to Juan Pedro López is the presence of their original frames, created in the same workshop as the paintings. The frames, made of carved wood and decorated with baroque motifs gilded in gold leaf, are an integral complement to the pictures within them.
This integral approach, in which painting and frame are conceived as a unit, reflects the practice of 18th century colonial workshops, especially those of the highest prestige such as that of Lopez.
The first painting depicts “Pentecost”, clearly, where the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles, gathered around Mary, is commemorated. 
This celebration takes place 50 days after Easter, thus ending the Easter season. 
On the morning of Pentecost, while the apostles were praying with Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended upon them. 
This event marks the birth of the Church and with it the spread of faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 2:1-5).
The apostles are depicted in the painting as seated, forming a majestic group dressed in severe robes, surrounding the Virgin Mary,  in an attitude of prayer. 
As they pray, an attitude reflected in their joined hands and in their ecstatic faces that look at Mary or at the Spirit that descends upon them, their serene faces are “listening with attention and devotion”.
To complete the scene of the Pentecost, “the tongues like flames resting on them” are missing, but in our opinion this could be “a snapshot of the first moment” when “the Dove bursts with a roar”.
We can count 12 apostles in the scene. It should be remembered that, according to Christian beliefs, after the suicide of Judas Iscariot, the 11 remaining apostles gathered and chose Matthias to complete the number of 12 sent to the 12 tribes of Israel. 
The figures are set in typical Renaissance architecture.


The second scene, as its title indicates, depicts the birth of the Precursor.
In the center are three women cleaning up the newborn.  Behind them, two other women are standing and chatting, one of them carrying a basin of water. 
On the left, a bed, with a canopy, almost plunged in darkness, where we see an old Zechariah, with a cane, the father of the child, who “had remained mute for having doubted the word of the angel”, and the woman in labor, Elizabeth, lying down, plunged in semi-darkness.   In the background is architecture without a landscape.
With great chromatism, the Caracas artist contrasts light and shadow, colors, dim and muted and more vibrant, with the aim of depicting an intimate vision. 
In this painting, white light concentrates on the baby and radiates to the women around him, while the rest of the composition is more somber.
These works stand out for their interior setting, very much to the taste of naturalism, in such a way that they are two scenes with an everyday flavor.
Juan Pedro López, a central figure in the development of Baroque art in Venezuela, was a painter and teacher, responsible for the training of important artists in his workshop in Caracas, and who exerted a significant influence on religious painting in the region during the 18th century. His influence extended beyond his time, leaving an enduring legacy in the religious art of the region.
López's work is essential to understanding the development of Novo-Hispanic art in Venezuela. His paintings, imbued with a deep religiosity and outstanding technical mastery, are a testimony to the baroque aesthetic that predominated in the Spanish colonies. Today, many of his paintings are in important collections and museums, preserved as part of Venezuelan cultural heritage.

From the 1960s onwards, through the work of critics of the stature of Alfredo Boulton and Carlos Federico Duarte, López was rescued and revalued as a central figure in the development of Venezuelan art in New Granada, and he is considered one of the most important artists of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in Venezuela. As a painter, sculptor and gilder he illuminated the sombre art of his time with the light and grace of Hispano-American Rococo, the style to which the master is related.

Much of Juan Pedro López's work was of a religious nature, in keeping with the tastes and fashions of the time. His iconography was far removed from the dramatic and tragic aspects customary at the time, and he focused on the production of humorous and cheerful images that were more appealing to the parishioners.

One of the first important paintings with which this master ventured into pictorial art was the commission in 1752 for sixteen paintings grouped under the title "History of the Life of the Virgin" at the request of the confraternity of Nuestra Señora de Guía in the church of San Mauricio, to be displayed on the main altar. The importance of this group of paintings is due to the fact that they bring together "all the formulas, scenes and typology of the characters to be found throughout his oeuvre" (Duarte Carlos).

In addition to paintings, Juan Pedro López also produced sculptural pieces, and at the same time as both practices, he received requests for the restoration of paintings and sculptures, retouching, modifications, additions, among others. As a curious fact, another activity carried out by López was the painting of candles that were used in ecclesiastical rituals, which was very common at that time.

The majority of his output consisted of commissions from churches, brotherhoods, convents, and private individuals, rather than stemming from personal inspiration.

Reference bibliography:

    - Boulton, Alfredo. Historia de la Pintura en Venezuela. Ediciones Ariel, 1972.
    - Carlos F. Duarte. Juan Pedro López: Maestro de Pintor, Escultor y Dorador, 1724-1787. Galería de Arte Nacional, 1996.