Claudio Linati

This beautiful piece emerged from the graphic compendium Costumes civils, militaires et religieux, du Mexique civil, work of the renowned Italian artist Claudio Linati (1 February 1790 – 11 December 1832), written in French and printed in Brussels in 1828. This original and signed watercolor is the outcome of Linati’s artistic values and expert lithographic technique. In words of the author “I have chosen the most elegant gears, as well as the most bizarre, like the one on this plate, which may contrast by its severity with the alluring of the more feathery costume of the palencanas. (…) The basket carried by the woman is carefully made of woven cane. For a better characterization of the country, this young native female carries an anona, known among the Spaniards as pineapple due to its similarities with the pinecone”. This plate is the sole image of the style composition prevailing in Costumes civils, militaires et religieux, du Mexique civil consisting in precise details of costume and material culture, as can be recognized in the representation where even though the female figure is placed in the foreground, the focus of the image falls into gear: a blue checkered shawl and skirt.

This signed plate emerged from the graphic compendium entitled Costumes civils, militaires et réligieux du Mexique. In this work, Linati included not only picturesque representations of the common people, but also a few historical figures, meticulously commented on and chosen out of a commitment to the ideals of the independence and reform of Mexico. The frontispiece of the book, this plate is the only one that shows the subject from the torso up; by doing so, the image resembles the classical style in the busts of antiquity. The presence of the Emperor sets...