Miguel de Santiago (1626-1706) was one of the most prominent Quito painters of the seventeenth century. 1 As was common at that time, his art generally dealt with religious motifs..
He was closely linked to the Augustinians, with whom he lived in some periods of his life. His series of paintings depicting The life of Saint Augustine. two
He achieved the degree of master in painting from an early age, at least from the year 1654 or 1656. 3 He had his own workshop in Quito, where he trained for more than 50 years different generations of painters who would inherit his renown, including his own daughter, Isabel, and Nicolás Javier de Goríbar..
He did not discriminate against his students on the basis of race, since he himself was a mixed race. And it was thanks to his exquisite brush that he became famous among the wealthiest circles in Ecuador at the time, especially the Catholic Church.. 4
Like many of the American painters, he was greatly influenced by European art of the 17th century. For the better dissemination of religious ideas in the New World, Spanish-American artists were normally asked to emulate the works of Spanish or Dutch masters.. 5
It is said that Miguel de Santiago received a lot of influence from the Sevillian Baroque, specifically from Murillo, although he never really traveled to Spain to learn from this teacher.. 6
However, his creativity and delicacy in combining traditional motifs with the colors and landscape that he knew generated a unique style, which is still appreciated today.. 7 Miguel de Santiago managed to unite tradition with the new continent on his canvas.
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Miguel de Santiago was born in Quito, Ecuador, approximately in the year 1626. His Christian name was Miguel Vizueta. His father, Lucas Vizueta, was also a painter, and his mother was Juana Ruiz. They were both mixed race. 8
In 1633 the young man took the surname of Santiago, as it was adopted by Hernando Santiago, the Regidor and Faithful Executor of the council of Riobamba, after the early death of his biological father. Few details are known about his youth.
There are no exact data about the beginning of the artistic training of Miguel de Santiago. However, it is known that he was a student of Hernando de La Cruz and a friar named Domingo.
In addition, there is evidence that in the beginning he worked with the painter Andrés Sánchez Gallque, author of The blacks of Esmeraldas. 9
Miguel de Santiago is also related to the Ecuadorian painter Diego de Orozco, of whom he probably was a disciple while working as a workshop.. 10
Miguel de Santiago obtained the title of master painter, around the years 1654 and 1656. His style and care gave him fame and renown. His work even crossed the ocean to be admired in Europe, especially in Rome.. eleven
Miguel de Santiago was one of the greatest exponents of the Quito School during the so-called golden century of Quito's arts, during the middle of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century.. 12
He opened his own workshop, which would operate for almost half a century and in it several generations of virtuous Ecuadorian painters were trained, including his own daughter Isabel de Santiago, her husband Antonio Egas-Venegas and Nicolás de Goríbar..
He was married to Andrea de Cisneros y Alvarado, who was the daughter of Francisco Cisneros and Juana Alvarado. With her he had four children, two boys who died in their youth without issue, in addition to the women, Juana and Isabel.. 13
Juana left an orphan son named Agustín, whom Miguel de Santiago took over.
He lived for many years in the property he inherited from his parents in the parish of Santa Bárbara, where he installed his workshop. But unlike many contemporary artists with Miguel de Santiago, he knew how to manage his income.
It cannot be said that he became rich. Although his work was valued above the norm among the painters of his time in Ecuador, the commissions, normally, were for the church and for that reason the price could not be exaggerated. 14
However, Miguel de Santiago preserved the maternal heritage, in addition to adding new assets and wealth.
On January 5, 1706, Miguel de Santiago died in Quito, Ecuador. He was buried with the habit of Saint Augustine. Mass and burial were held in the Church of San Agustín. fifteen
Miguel de Santiago's workshop was one of the most prestigious in Ecuador at the time of the Royal Court. The paintings and artists who were trained in that workshop had a renown that others of the same era were hardly able to achieve..
Miguel de Santiago founded his workshop in the house he inherited from his mother in the parish of Santa Bárbara and dedicated more than 50 years of his life to this project, until his death..
It is even thought that his daughter Isabel inherited it after Santiago passed away, although there is no certain data that she kept it until her own death in 1714.. 16
Apprentices of any race were admitted in Miguel de Santiago's workshop, Antonio Egas was Spanish, while Simón Valenzuela was a mulatto. It should be noted that Santiago himself was mestizo.
The influence of the work of the Santiago workshop spread through the cities to which his works were sent, including Bogotá and Santiago de Chile or Mexico.
He trained at least two generations of painters, among the first are those who collaborated with him in the San Agustín series: Bartolomé Lobato, Simón de Valenzuela or Fray Alfonzo de la Vera.
Of the second generation, the most outstanding students were Nicolás de Goríbar, Isabel de Santiago and Antonio Egas. However, the master's brush was much more coveted than that of his disciples. They even paid more for the works that were made entirely by Miguel de Santiago.17
With the series The life of Saint Augustine The skills of the Quito painter Miguel de Santiago were revealed. They were commissioned to his workshop by Father Basilio de Ribera, who served as Provincial of the order of San Agustín and concluded in 1656. 18
During his time it was thought that the series The life of Saint Augustine it was a totally original creation by Miguel de Santiago. However, it was later discovered that the artist had copied part of his work from the engravings of the Flemish Schelte de Bolswert. 19
It should not be ignored that in America in the seventeenth century copying was common in art, because a painting had two purposes:
First it was used to decorate the spaces in convents, churches or monasteries. The other service a work of art rendered was to educate and spread Catholic doctrine among Americans. This did not leave much room for free interpretation..
Miguel de Santiago's technique in this work begins to allow himself certain freedoms. The series shows the artist's concern for the Andean landscape, in a composition in which this element would share the limelight with architecture and distances.. twenty
In the Miracles of the Virgin of Guápulo The apprentices of his second generation of workshops collaborated with Santiago: Goríbar, Isabel de Santiago and Egas. This series would become a reference for future nationalist painters.
Many were the works of Miguel de Santiago that would achieve fame both in his time and in posterity. Among them it is worth highlighting its Christian doctrine, consisting of 9 canvases and the 12 canvases on which he painted the Creed.
His paintings of the Immaculate Conception and from Christ of the Agony.
Miguel de Santiago was an author highly appreciated by the society of his time and by scholars of Ecuadorian art in later centuries. Perhaps this is why his figure has been mythologized with a series of legends that were created around Santiago.
The Quito painter has been characterized as a man with a volatile and unstable temperament. But this theory is only supported by legends such as that when he was painting his Christ of the Agony stabbed a spear into his model's chest to get the expression he was looking for. twenty-one
But this legend not only corresponded to Santiago, but it was also attributed to Michelangelo and the Viennese Franz Xaver Messerschmidt. In addition, its veracity was refuted by authors such as Llerena or Delgado.
Other common legends are also attributed to European painters such as Rubens and Van Dyck: that of the expulsion of his disciple Goríbar from the workshop for trying to mend a painting damaged by a pig, or for jealousy of his progress as an artist.. 22
Another myth about Santiago is that he traveled to study with Spanish teachers in the old continent. Although his painting was influenced by the techniques of the Baroque and the Dutch, Miguel de Santiago never left Ecuador.
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