Diego José Hilaris (17?? - 18??) was a Dominican painter during the

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period and one of the few native colonial artists whose works and legacy survive today.Danilo de los Santos. Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana. (Colección Centenario Grupo León Jimenes) 8v: il. Grupo León Jimenes. Santo Domingo, 2003. pg 123 Believed to be born in

Higüey Higüey (), or in full Salvaleón de Higüey, is the capital city of the eastern La Altagracia Province, in the Dominican Republic, and the eighth largest city of that country. The Yuma River (Dominican Republic), Yuma River flows through the urb ...

, his series of pictorial paintings cover miracles of the Virgin Mary, or Virgen de la Altagracia, throughout the colony. They constitute the only collection of colonial paintings preserved of which there is no doubt it was made in the country by a native artist. His art is imbued with primitivism as he was not formally trained, and they are considered significant in their historical, religious, anthropological, and artistic value of depicting costumbrist scenes during the country’s colonial era.Danilo de los Santos. Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana. (Colección Centenario Grupo León Jimenes) 8v: il. Grupo León Jimenes. Santo Domingo, 2003. pg 127

Biography

Despite no specificities concerning his biography survive, it is known he was a criollo born on the island, most likely in Higüey during the mid 1700s with an estimated year of death believed to be in the early 1800s.Danilo de los Santos. Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana. (Colección Centenario Grupo León Jimenes) 8v: il. Grupo León Jimenes. Santo Domingo, 2003. pg 124 Hilaris, completely self-taught, painted his series, known as medallions for their oval shape, approximately between the years 1760 and 1778; of the 27 whose existence is known, only 10 have been lost. Each medallion measure more than one meter high and 66 centimeters wide and are preserved in the Altagracia Museum located in Higüey. According to the story, Hilaris was commissioned by the church to paint a series for the island’s Altragraciano miracles, and after initially declining, he became ill; only after praying to the Virgin Mary did he regain his health and eventually agree to paint the works.Dilla Alfonso, Haroldo. Ciudades en el Caribe: un estudio comparado de La Habana, San Juan, Santo Domingo y Miami. FLACSO México, 2014. pg 86 The medallion ''Autoretrato con santuario y montañas de Higüey'' is a self portrait depicting this event. The artist looks towards the church of Saint Dionisio in Higüey, one of the oldest churches in the

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, while in the back mountains, several shacks and palms are shown, while a man riding a donkey climbs a trail. The cult of the Virgin of Altagracia is very old and has its origins in the earliest years of the colony, for she is considered the protective mother of Dominicans of Catholic faith to this day. The medallion ''Los señores del cabildo de Santo Domingo'' is considered the richest and most complex of the series, for its composition, number of characters and for featuring a landscape layout.Danilo de los Santos. Memoria de la Pintura Dominicana. (Colección Centenario Grupo León Jimenes) 8v: il. Grupo León Jimenes. Santo Domingo, 2003. pg 130 It depicts one of the oldest prodigious incidents, chronicled by the cleric Alcocer in 1650: the scene take places in Santo Domingo along the Ozama river bank, with the wall gates of San Diego and the Columbus Alcazar in the background. It precisely tries to show the moment when the citizens of the city realized that the significant painting of the Virgin Mary was nowhere to be found and the box that should have contained her image empty.

Gallery

File:Hilaris Nuestra Señora.jpg, Hilaris Nuestra Señora File:Medallón de los señores del cabildo de Santo Domingo.jpg, Medallón de los señores del cabildo de Santo Domingo File:Hilaris Autorretrato.jpg, Hilaris Autorretrato File:Hilaris El niño asfixiado.jpg, Hilaris El niño asfixiado File:Hilaris Santuario.jpg, Hilaris Santuario

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilaris, Diego Jose People from La Altagracia Province Dominican Republic male artists 18th-century Dominican Republic artists Catholic painters