San Juan Nepomuceno

José Campeche y Jordán, San Juan Nepomuceno, ca. 1798, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1996.91.5
José Campeche y Jordán, San Juan Nepomuceno, ca. 1798, oil on canvas, 41 3⁄4 x 29 1⁄2 in. (106.1 x 74.9 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Teodoro Vidal Collection, 1996.91.5
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
San Juan Nepomuceno
Artist
Date
ca. 1798
Location
Dimensions
41 3⁄4 x 29 1⁄2 in. (106.1 x 74.9 cm.)
Credit Line
Teodoro Vidal Collection
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Religion — saint — St. John
  • Emblem — cross
  • Object — written matter — book
  • Object — foliage — palm
Object Number
1996.91.5
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1996.91.5

Artwork Description

The halo of five stars around the head of San Juan Nepomuceno, the patron saint of confessors, spells out TACUI, Latin for "I did not speak." The letters lead the viewer's eye to the figure of Christ, the object of the saint's devotion. This painting reminded priests of their obligation to remain silent regarding what they heard from those they absolved. José Campeche, a descendant of freed slaves, made a career for himself as an artist and architect, using colonial, European, and folk traditions to create distinctively Puerto Rican artwork at the close of the eighteenth-century.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Works by this artist (2 items)

Richard Guy Walton, Aunt Polly's Sid, 1939, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1974.99.1
Aunt Polly’s Sid
Artist
Date1939
oil on fiberboard
Not on view
Richard Guy Walton, Tom, Huck and the Dead Cat, 1939, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1974.99.2
Tom, Huck and the Dead Cat
Artist
Date1939
oil on fiberboard
Not on view