Abstract

ARROYO LEMUS, Elsa. Cristóbal de Villalpando and Baltasar de Echave Rioja: Technical and Pictorial Relations between Two Contemporary Studios. An. Inst. Investig. Estét [online]. 2025, vol.47, n.127, pp.117-156.  Epub Feb 13, 2026. ISSN 0185-1276.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iie.18703062e.2025.127.2919.

This article compares two paintings on the subject of Christ Washing the Disciples’ Feet by Cristóbal de Villalpando (ca. 1649-1714) and Baltasar de Echave Rioja (1632-1682) that are of key interest in explaining the workshop practices of Mexico City’s guild of painters in the last third of the seventeenth century. The approach is one based on the materiality of artworks and is in dialogue with recent art-historical literature on these two renowned artists of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The paper presents unpublished results of the scientific examination of both paintings with the purpose of tracing the commonalities and divergences between the artists’ materials and the intentional processes carried out by the painters in the creation of their compositions. Finally, the possible training of Villalpando in the Echave Rioja workshop and the subsequent formation of his own pictorial language are discussed.

Keywords : Cristóbal de Villalpando; Baltasar de Echave Rioja; Mexican colonial painting; painting techniques; guild of painters.

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