The Jíbaro Masquerade: Luis Paret Y Alcázar’S Self-Portrait Of 1776

Keywords

Carlos III; Jíbaro; Luis Paret y Alcázar; Masquerade; Rococo; Self-Portrait

Abstract

Luis Paret y Alcázar’ Self-Portrait of 1776 shows the Spanish artist standing before the tranquil yet rugged Puerto Rican landscape dressed as a local peasant or jíbaro. Wearing a white shirt, striped pants, and flowered hat, he carries a bunch of plantains and a machete. The artist constructs a vision of himself as a Puerto Rican peasant, the jíbaro. The use of the jíbaro’s attire by Paret y Alcázar can be understood within the context of the carnivalesque in which the upper-class masqueraded as peasants. The painting also reveals the intellectual elite’s appropriation and subsequent adoption of the jíbaro as cultural symbol. The work was produced after Paret y Alcázar’s removal from the Spanish court of Carlos III and his exile to the island of Puerto Rico from 1775 to 1778. The self-portrait, later sent to the Bourbon monarchy as a gift, was pivotal in securing not only the painter’s return to the Spanish court but also the continued success of his professional career by communicating important cultural and political implications.

Publication Date

9-2-2016

Publication Title

Hispanic Research Journal

Volume

17

Issue

5

Number of Pages

455-467

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1080/14682737.2016.1209855

Socpus ID

84992013394 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84992013394

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