The Valley of Mexico from the Santa Isabel Mountain Range
| Support Type: | Canvas |
| Paint Type: | Oil Paint |
| Current Location: | Museo Nacional de Arte |
| Location History: | The artist created the first version in 1875 now held by the National Museum of Art in Mexico City and exhibited it at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in the United States. The 1877 version also part of the National Museum of Art’s collection; was the third large-format work the painter produced, measuring 1.60 by 2.26 meters. The artist created several other versions of the same subject; one in 1882 (private collection); a 1883 version (at the Orizaba Art Museum in Veracruz); and two from 1884 (one of which belongs to the Soumaya Museum or the Carlos Slim Foundation). |
Jose Maria Velasco is a renowned 19th century painter and amateur naturalist who specialised in the genre of landscape painting, his works are deeply influenced by the flourishing art movements of the period; realism and romanticism. Born into a modest family of weavers expertising in the Rebozo; a long scarf that covers the head and shoulders, typically adorned by Mexican women. Jose's family shifted to Mexico city after his fathers demise; when Jose was just six years old, where he became a draftsman. Jose further developed his practice after he joined the Art Academy of San Carlos in 1859 CE. There, he attained complete formal training and was particularly influenced by the Italian painter Eugenio Landesio who aimed to focus on natural empiricism and accurate depiction of the topographical landscape. Thereon he became very popular for his panoramic landscapes and for how he presented the Mexican terrain. His most famous work is titled "The Valley of Mexico from the Santa Isabel Mountain Range", it is a broad horizontal composition where the terrain is beautifully rendered, he uses a balanced palette in accordance with the geography; earthy browns and greens exhibit the foreground while the middleground showcases a blend of warm and cool hues for the lake edges, settlements and urban structures and the background is concentrated with cool blues and whites depicting the volcanoes and mountains in the horizon and the slightly cloudy sky. The image carries extraordinary detail and strong semiology as the painter covertly displays a nationalistic narrative through the twin volcanoes; Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, these peaks have long been iconic symbols of Mexican geography and are associated with indigenous legends and mythologies. The painting evokes contemplative, ruminative and patriotic sentiments, guiding the viewer to think deeply about the history and culture of this ancient region also indicating the impact of the romanticism movement on the painter. He made the landscape the central subject of the work and this led to a great metamorphosis of the landscape genre in Mexico, serving as an example for future artists to subtly transform their works into symbols of cultural identity as done by Jose Maria Velasco.