Fray Miguel Melchor de Herrera, c. (1700-1789)

• Was a Mexican painter, an Augustinian monk.
• His earliest known painting is dated 1725 and is currently at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
• He painted both portraits and religious paintings.
• He was born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna in Tenerife, part of the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa ca. 1700.
• At a young age, he joined the Augustinian order at the Monasterio del Espirítu Santo where he began his religious life as a friar and also commenced his artistic labors.
• In 1719, the young friar sailed to Nueva España, and although he never returned to his place of birth, he maintained contacts with his family and other members of his monastic order.
• Numerous paintings are still to be found in his birthplace in private collections.
• In his adopted home in Mexico the friar remained active until 1780 producing paintings commissioned for churches, convents and private collections. 
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