Green, White, and Flesh-Color: the Portraits of Ángela Peralta during the Second Mexican Empire

Abstract

Soprano Ángela Peralta returned to her country of origin November 1865, to perform before audiences in the capital and other cities of Maximilian’s Mexican Empire. Reports chronicle that all of her performances were greeted with unprecedented enthusiasm and were a spectacular success. This article draws on research in bibliographic and hemerographic sources, private collections, archives and other primary sources, in order to address the subsequent circulation of portraits of the artist and their utilization in the context of the political transition from the Mexican Empire to the Restored Republic. Ángela Peralta’s return to Mexico and the demand for her portraits reveal the projection in the imaginary of her figure as a representation of the Mexican nation.