On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
6. From Spaniard and Morisca, Albino Girl (6. De español y morisca, albina)
Miguel Cabrera Mexican
Not on view
This casta painting portrays a Spanish male, a morisca (a term that designated the mixture of a Spaniard and a mulatto), and their albino daughter. The figures wear a combination of New Spanish, European, and Asian garments. The woman is dressed in an ornate calico skirt with floral motifs and a Mexican rebozo (shawl) over a European-style blouse. The Spanish man is depicted in a multilayered leather coat with attached red fabric sleeves worn by a special group of soldiers known as dragones or soldados de cuera.
The canvas is still attached to its original wooden scroll case (a common way of transporting paintings across the Atlantic).
Este cuadro de castas representa a un español y una morisca (término que designaba la mezcla de un español y una mulata) y su hija albina. Lucen una mezcla de prendas novohispanas, europeas y orientales. La mujer viste una falda de calicó estampada con motivos florales y un rebozo mexicano sobre una blusa de estilo europeo. El español lleva una chaqueta de múltiples capas de duro cuero con mangas postizas de paño rojo, del tipo que usaban los llamados "dragones" o "soldados de cuera".
El lienzo, que se concibió como un "cuadro de enrollar", aún conserva su "media caña" y "varilla" originales: un medio habitual para transportar pinturas de un lado al otro del Atlántico.
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