The Museo de Arte de Ponce presents the exhibition “Emblems of Faith” in the Casa Museo de los Santos Reyes in Juana Díaz
(Ponce, Puerto Rico – Tuesday, December 6, 2022) – The Museo de Arte de Ponce continues to create partnerships with local museums to ensure that the community has access to its renowned and vast art collection. On this occasion, in collaboration with the Casa Museo de los Santos Reyes in Juana Diaz, the institution presents the exhibition “Emblems of Faith: Viceregal Painting of the Museo de Arte de Ponce,” which will open to the public on Saturday, December 10th.
The exhibition includes nine representative works of the artistic production of the Spanish viceroyalties during the colonial period that are the product of the cultural exchanges between Spain and America.
About the exhibition, Iraida Rodríguez-Negrón, Curator of the Museo de Arte de Ponce, states that “it presents artworks of the South American schools of the Viceroyalty of Perú, especially of the cuzqueño school established in the seventeenth century in the city of Cuzco, ancient Inca capital.” Adding that “the viceregal collection began only four years after the founding of the museum in 1959 and was enriched in the first decades of the twentieth century thanks to the donations of Rosario Ferré Ramírez de Arellano and her succession.”
Viceregal art arises in the sixteenth century motivated principally by the evangelizing mission of the Catholic Church. Religious Orders quickly realized how natives responded powerfully to the images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints, and used it to further their mission. The artworks in the exhibition “Emblems of Faith” reflect a mixture of imported styles and local traditions, thus achieving a synthesis between European iconography and pre-Columbian art.
Regarding “Emblems of Faith,” the Administrator of the Casa Museo de los Santos Reyes, Reverend Deacon William Santiago Figueroa, said, “we are honored to have formalized this alliance with the Museo de Arte de Ponce. I especially thank its Director, Cheryl Hartup, and its Curator, Iraida Rodríguez-Negrón, and the staff of both institutions for their hard work in achieving this collaboration and making this exhibition a reality,” the Reverend Deacon added, “Casa Museo de los Santos Reyes promotes devotion to the religious figures of Christianity represented in ‘Emblems of Faith,’ an exhibition that displays, without a doubt, great examples of Hispanic devotional art.”
“This new collaboration with the Casa Museo de los Santos Reyes is part of our interest in continuing to strengthen ties with institutions dedicated to preserving Puerto Rican art and culture, and our traditions. Undoubtedly, the works of viceregal art presented in this exhibition demonstrate the importance of faith in the Hispanic culture we belong to. We invite the public to visit this exhibition of little-known works from the Museo de Arte de Ponce’s collection and enjoy the beauty of the details they present,” concluded Cheryl Hartup, Director of the Museo de Arte de Ponce.
The exhibition will be open to the public until July 30, 2023, from Wednesday to Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For information about the exhibition and when to visit you can contact the Casa Museo de los Santos Reyes in Juan Díaz by calling 787-260-0817 or emailing: reyesjd2010@ hotmail.com. You can also contact the Museo de Arte de Ponce at 787-840-1510 and access the social platforms of both institutions: @museoarteponce. @casamuseodelossantosreyes.