Madonna of the Rosary with the Child Jesus

Oil, gold, and silver-leaf on canvas

47 ¾ x 33 1/6 inches/121.2 x 84.2 cm; framed size approx 60 x 45 inches.

An old collection label on the back reads: "Perez de Holquin 1780". 

The old label naming Melchor Pérez de Holguín as the artist, while incorrect (Pérez Holguín died c. 1724, and his painting style is different), nonetheless points to the region where this painting originated. That is in the high Andes in the old Alto Peru (now the region of Peru and Bolivia). The painting is finely a rendered example of eighteenth-century South American Spanish Colonial production, with rich details; the Virgin is crowned, her dress and robe are gilded in different patterns with intricate borders, and she wears a jeweled brooch and belt. Her earrings are of a rounded, open motif seen most often with jewel or pearl decorations in paintings from Alto Peru from this period.