Registros-Inventarios Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno, 1900-1936. Núm. 85A.
The painting "Martín de Mayorga" by renowned Mexican artist José de Alcíbar, born in 1730 in Mexico City, depicts the 47th Viceroy of New Spain Martín de Mayorga Ferrer, who in life achieved the positions of Captain General of Guatemala (1773-1779) and was Knight of the Order of Alcántara, where he served as field marshal. In addition, to being the viceroy who supported and authorized the project, making possible the creation and founding of the Academy of San Carlos, the first academy of fine arts in the Americas, which professionalized the training of artists.
Although the exact date of the work's creation is unknown, it is believed to date from around the late 18th century. In the painting De Mayorga is depicted in a three-quarter angle, with his gaze towards the left side of the painting. He is wearing a suit, composed of a black jacket with gold patterns, on the inside a bright red vest can be seen along with the same gold patterns as the jacket and a white elegant shirt underneath with ruffles on the chest, which are visible through the center of the vest. Due to his social standing, the artist depict him in a grey wig, which were a sign of wealth and of the elite in the New Spain, as at the time is was considered fashionable. On his left hand he is leaning his weight on a cane, while the right is inside of his pocket. Down on the right side of the painting a table with a document can be seen, along with two metal vases holding feather pens. The inscription at the bottom of the painting reads a small biography of the most renowned acknowledgments of Martín de Mayorga in an old Spanish version of the language used at the time.
José de Alcíbar's "Martín de Mayorga" stages colonial authority through the language of elite portraiture. The image legitimizes Spanish imperial rule in New Spain. Every visual detail from the embroidered coat, powdered wig, cane, writing desk to official documents function as a sign of class privilege secured through colonial extraction. Mayorga's composed posture naturalizes political domination, presenting imperial power as rational, dignified, and inevitable change. His association with the founding of the Academy of San Carlos reflects another dimension of colonial control. The academy institutionalized European artistic standards while marginalizing indigenous and popular visual traditions. Art became an instrument for reproducing colonial ideology through disciplined aesthetic education. Thereafter, the portrait reveals how culture serves the ruling class by transforming relations of exploitation into images of prestige and civilization. The painting conceals the labour that financed the wealth represented on its surface.
