Title

Letters Patent of Nobility of Petitioner Captain Domingo Castañeda Velasco

Generic classification

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Cultural context / style

Material

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Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

The Hispanic Society of America's documentary holdings include nearly 200,000 manuscripts, letters and documents. Archer M. Huntington, founder of the institution, created this great collection between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. To this end, he purchased large personal libraries such as that of the Marquis of Jerez de los Caballeros, who sold him around 10,000 manuscripts and printed books, or the bullfighting library of Carmena y Millán. Likewise, he established commercial relationships with private collectors such as Karl W. Hieserman, who provided Huntington with large personalized catalogs of documents, pieces and manuscripts (Codding, O'Neil and Lenaghan 2021, 9).

This executory letter of hidalguía was issued in 1628 in Valladolid for Domingo Castañeda Velasco. After being acquired by Huntington, it was eventually given to the Hispanic Society of America in 1956. This document was probably acquired in the purchase of a large collection and subsequently Huntington deposited it in the institution's holdings (Codding, 2017).

Description

Letters of hidalguía were royal documents that granted their recipient the heraldic status of knight. Letters of hidalguía began to be issued during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, who founded a special court, the Sala de Hijosdalgo, at the Royal Chancery of Valladolid. These documents could only be issued by the Royal Chancilleries of Valladolid and Granada, often after lengthy and costly litigation by the plaintiff. The letters were validated by a lead seal attached to the spine of the document with a multicolored cord. The importance of these documents lay in the fact that they certified the social position of the holder, so that he was exempt from paying certain taxes, fees and obligations. In addition, the descendants of a nobleman kept these documents with care, as they sometimes needed to claim the privileges of their ancestor to certify their social status. Given the importance of these documents, their authors made high quality illuminations and their owners ordered bindings to match their content. Thus, the letters of nobility are important documents that provide key information about the society and artistic evolution of Spanish illuminators during the Renaissance and Baroque periods (Codding, O'Neil and Lenaghan 2021).

This executory letter by Domingo Castañeda Velasco, bound in velvet with silver details and preserved its original seal, is a valuable testimony to the portraits of the Golden Age in Spain. It contains a portrait of King Philip IV and a family scene of Castañeda with his wife and children (Codding 2017, 190-1).

The portrait of Philip IV, inspired by artists such as Maíno, Crayer, and Van der Hamen, shows the king dressed in half armor, next to a table covered by a red mat where his morrion rests. The monarch projects confidence and leadership, while the artist realistically reproduces his face, hair and symbolic attributes, such as Golden Fleece and the breastplate decorated with the Immaculate Conception and the monogram "IHS" (Codding 2017, 190-1).

The second image presents Castañeda and his family kneeling before an altar with figures of the Virgin, St. Dominic and St. Catherine. Although few seventeenth-century canvases depict families gathered together, these scenes are common in manuscripts. The illumination is notable for its precision in detail, such as the wife's veil, cushions, a child's book, and figures on the altar (Codding 2017, 190-1).

Locations

• 1628 - 1956

  province

  Possible origin in the province of Valladolid, Valladolid (Spain)

• 1956 - present

  museum

  The Hispanic Society of America, New York (United States)