The artist José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza immigrated from Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico to New Orleans around 1782. Already an accomplished artist, Salazar received numerous portrait commissions from prominent families and community leaders of Spanish Colonial Louisiana. The impressive group portrait of "Don Antonio Mendez and His Family" has the upright postures, delicate handling of the lace and inclusion of a bird and basket of berries that are characteristic of Salazar's portraits.

A native of Havana, Cuba, Don Antonio Mendez (1750-1829) arrived in New Orleans upon accepting the position of Procurer de Roy (Attorney General) for the Spanish Colonial government of Louisiana. Mendez ...