scholarly journals Sixteenth-century Mexican Monasteries and Art. An Anthropological Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-124
Author(s):  
Monika Brenišínová
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
New Spain ◽  
Anthropological Perspective ◽  
Monastic Architecture ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
History Of

Abstract This paper deals with sixteenth-century Mexican monastic architecture and art. Mexican monasteries were constructed all over the territory of New Spain (1635-1821) in relation to the need to evangelize the native American populations. The article discusses the place of this architecture and art in the historiography of the history of art taking into consideration the changes of paradigms and putting particular emphasis on anthropology and its approaches. In terms of method, it is interdisciplinary and combines synchronic and diachronic perspectives.

New Light on the Career of Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán

1963 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 341-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald E. Chipman
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
New Spain ◽  
Early History ◽  
Wide Acceptance ◽  
Before And After ◽  
History Of ◽  
Spanish Archives ◽  
Hernan Cortes

It is a notable fact that Nuño Beltrán de Guzman, whom many regard as second only in importance to Hernán Cortés in the early history of New Spain, should have escaped for so long the detailed attention of historians. Because of this neglect several false notions have gained currency. For instance, it has been customarily assumed that a Nuño de Guzmán, encomendero of Puerto Plata, Española, was the man who became governor of Panuco, president of the First Audiencia of New Spain, and governor of New Galicia; and wide acceptance has been given to the belief that the man who held these important positions in New Spain died a lonely, despised man in the royal prison of Torrejón de Velasco. Recent investigations by the author in the Spanish archives of Sevilla, Madrid, Guadalajara, and Simancas strongly suggest that the Nuño de Guzmán of Puerto Plata was not the same as the more famous Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán of Guadalajara, Spain, who held three important positions in sixteenth-century New Spain. This research has also lent new insights into the life of Nuño de Guzmán of Guadalajara before and after his career in the Indies.

scholarly journals Shifting the Frontiers of Early Modern Science: Astronomers, Botanists, and Engineers in Viceregal New Spain during the Habsburg Era, 1535-1700

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nancy Marquez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
New Spain ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Scientific Discourse ◽  
Early Modern Science ◽  
Spanish Colonial ◽  
History Of

<p>This doctoral thesis offers a big-picture view of the material and cultural history of science in colonial Latin America. It argues that science in the Viceroyalty of New Spain can be best understood not as isolated from centres of European culture, but rather as a productive extension of Old World and Indigenous techniques for observing and quantifying nature. Moreover, it also shows that Mexico City quickly became a central node in the production and funding of science within the Spanish Empire, rather than being peripheral to early modern scientific discourse. It examines the nerve centre of Spain’s overseas territories, the viceregal capital of New Spain, as a hub not only of funding but also of vibrant activity for Spanish and Novohispanic science from 1535 to 1700.  Current historians of Spanish and Spanish-colonial science have demonstrated that, in contrast with depictions in older histories of early modern science, Spain was an active producer of technologies of discovery and natural resource extraction as well as works on theoretical and applied mathematics. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Spanish Crown and other private corporate bodies—including the religious orders—supported the production of new forms of knowledge. I will refer to these throughout as “science” and to its practitioners as “scientists.”  Scientists who feature prominently in this thesis set precedents for later scientific endeavours in Latin America and Europe. Sixteenth-century botanist Francisco Hernández, cartographer Francisco Domínguez y Ocampo, and astronomer Jaime Juan established some of the first large-scale observations and records of an expansive New Spain. In the following years a diverse set of seventeenth-century hydraulic engineers fielded a variety of solutions to a complex set of topographical and political issues in the viceregal capital. At the same time, a lively group of astronomer-mathematicians contributed to an increasingly global network of scientific discourse.  Many of these scientists and intellectuals owned notable personal libraries. This thesis examines the implications of mobile books—locally-produced as well as European—as they contributed to the production of new knowledge in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Powerful Spanish and criolla women patronized or supported the promulgation of scientific writings in New Spain. Additionally, indigenous authors disseminated the concepts of early modern science to their readers within colonial-era Nahua chronicles. Hobbyists also interacted with professional and well-known scientific thinkers at local discussion clubs or via correspondence and improvised their own instruments based on available texts. Local book printers and authors of popular early modern science works are also included in this investigation as they played key roles within the social networks of science.  This thesis relies on archival manuscript sources while synthesizing the rigorous scholarship of many specialists in order to tell the story of how a major sixteenth-century Spanish colonial city possessed the resources to engage in a variety of early modern scientific undertakings. It re-examines documents concerning the history of science in New Spain in order to ask new questions about the role of scientists’ instruments, personal book collections, and correspondence with colleagues abroad upon the influence of their professional writings. By assembling a selection of key case studies, the thesis shows that sixteenth-century royal investments in scientific institutions on the Iberian Peninsula bore fruit in New Spain during the late 1500s and the 1600s as diverse communities of scientists flourished in Mexico City and its seaports. In sum, this is a study of the movement of early modern scientists, their tools and ideas as well as the concentration of these resources in the geographical and cultural surroundings of New Spain.</p>

scholarly journals Shifting the Frontiers of Early Modern Science: Astronomers, Botanists, and Engineers in Viceregal New Spain during the Habsburg Era, 1535-1700

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nancy Marquez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
New Spain ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Scientific Discourse ◽  
Early Modern Science ◽  
Spanish Colonial ◽  
History Of

<p>This doctoral thesis offers a big-picture view of the material and cultural history of science in colonial Latin America. It argues that science in the Viceroyalty of New Spain can be best understood not as isolated from centres of European culture, but rather as a productive extension of Old World and Indigenous techniques for observing and quantifying nature. Moreover, it also shows that Mexico City quickly became a central node in the production and funding of science within the Spanish Empire, rather than being peripheral to early modern scientific discourse. It examines the nerve centre of Spain’s overseas territories, the viceregal capital of New Spain, as a hub not only of funding but also of vibrant activity for Spanish and Novohispanic science from 1535 to 1700.  Current historians of Spanish and Spanish-colonial science have demonstrated that, in contrast with depictions in older histories of early modern science, Spain was an active producer of technologies of discovery and natural resource extraction as well as works on theoretical and applied mathematics. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Spanish Crown and other private corporate bodies—including the religious orders—supported the production of new forms of knowledge. I will refer to these throughout as “science” and to its practitioners as “scientists.”  Scientists who feature prominently in this thesis set precedents for later scientific endeavours in Latin America and Europe. Sixteenth-century botanist Francisco Hernández, cartographer Francisco Domínguez y Ocampo, and astronomer Jaime Juan established some of the first large-scale observations and records of an expansive New Spain. In the following years a diverse set of seventeenth-century hydraulic engineers fielded a variety of solutions to a complex set of topographical and political issues in the viceregal capital. At the same time, a lively group of astronomer-mathematicians contributed to an increasingly global network of scientific discourse.  Many of these scientists and intellectuals owned notable personal libraries. This thesis examines the implications of mobile books—locally-produced as well as European—as they contributed to the production of new knowledge in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Powerful Spanish and criolla women patronized or supported the promulgation of scientific writings in New Spain. Additionally, indigenous authors disseminated the concepts of early modern science to their readers within colonial-era Nahua chronicles. Hobbyists also interacted with professional and well-known scientific thinkers at local discussion clubs or via correspondence and improvised their own instruments based on available texts. Local book printers and authors of popular early modern science works are also included in this investigation as they played key roles within the social networks of science.  This thesis relies on archival manuscript sources while synthesizing the rigorous scholarship of many specialists in order to tell the story of how a major sixteenth-century Spanish colonial city possessed the resources to engage in a variety of early modern scientific undertakings. It re-examines documents concerning the history of science in New Spain in order to ask new questions about the role of scientists’ instruments, personal book collections, and correspondence with colleagues abroad upon the influence of their professional writings. By assembling a selection of key case studies, the thesis shows that sixteenth-century royal investments in scientific institutions on the Iberian Peninsula bore fruit in New Spain during the late 1500s and the 1600s as diverse communities of scientists flourished in Mexico City and its seaports. In sum, this is a study of the movement of early modern scientists, their tools and ideas as well as the concentration of these resources in the geographical and cultural surroundings of New Spain.</p>

The Ordenanza del Patronazgo in New Spain, 1574-1600

1986 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Frederick Schwaller
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
New Spain ◽  
The Other ◽  
Religious Orders ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Secular Clergy ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church

The history of the Church in Mexico has seen an ongoing confrontation between the secular and the regular clergy. During various periods one or the other side would achieve ascendency, only to decline at a later date. The religious orders have chronicled the exploits of their brothers and friars, yet to this day the activities of the secular clergy have remained largely unknown. One critical period in the development and expansion of the secular clergy occurred between the promulgation of the Ordenanza del Patronazgo in 1574 and the end of the sixteenth century. In this quarter century many of the basic institutions of the diocesan establishment came into being, and in general the whole ecclesiastical hierarchy felt the changes. This essay specifically will focus on the implementation of the Ordenanza del Patronazgo and its effect on the secular clergy.

scholarly journals Teaching Tepahtia

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 85-104
Author(s):  
Mackenzie Cooley
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Information Transfer ◽  
New Spain ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Gain Access

This pedagogical article discusses sources and methods for teaching the history of imperial science and medicine in the Nahua world from 1400 to 1600, a period that ranges from the spectacular growth of the Aztec Empire through the conquest to the creation of New Spain. By providing students tools to explore non-European ontologies and world-building, this article presents several exercises in which students act as archival researchers and themselves puzzle out the complexities of information transfer in the archive of sixteenth-century Latin America. Combining European paleography workshops, linguistic tools pioneered by the IDIEZ Nahuatl program, the study of Mesoamerican archeological objects, and an engagement with Mexican medicinal plants to recreate early modern remedies, students gain access to a world of New Spanish knowledge-creation.

scholarly journals Per la fortuna critica di Ludovico Brea: una monografia inedita di Piero De Minerbi (1911-1912)

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 271-309
Author(s):  
Federica Volpera
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Art Criticism ◽  
Research Topic ◽  
History And Criticism ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Critical History ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
Peripheral Area ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
History Of

The archive of the Pinacoteca Civica in Savona preserved an unpublished typescript about the painter Ludovico Brea (Nice, 1450 c.-1516/1525): this work was written between 1911 and 1912 by the art historian Piero Hierschel De Minerbi, who belonged to a noble family from Trieste. The study of the text, illustrated by seventy-seven black and white photos, and four tables featuring sketches by the author, enables not only to add a new element to the critical history of Ludovico Brea but also to reflect on the state of the history of art criticism in Italy at the beginning of the Twentieth century. Particularly research tools used by the scholar belong to Historical and Philological method of the connoiseurship as was formulated by Adolfo Venturi (1856-1941) and Pietro Toesca (1877-1962): beyond the choice of a specific genre as the artist’s monograph, and of a research topic focused on an artist who belonged to a peripheral area of Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-century Italian Art, De Minerbi’s method is characterized by the enhancement of the link between history and criticism, a deep attention to the formal and technical aspects of the paintings in order to identify Brea’s style and to reconstruct his catalogue, distinguishing his hands from those of his followers, and the use of research instruments as archival documents, photography and ink sketches of compositional and iconographic details. Finally, some unpublished letters written by Piero De Minerbi and the director of the Pinacoteca Civica in Savona, Poggio Poggi, between 1938 and 1940, enable to reconstruct the history of this typescripts and the reason of its presence in the archive of the museum.

scholarly journals La devoción a san Jorge durante el siglo XVIII en Durango. A propósito de un lienzo conservado en la sacristía de la catedral

2019 ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Adolfo Martínez Romero
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
New Spain ◽  
Meaningful Change ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City ◽  
Poisonous Animals

ABSTRACT: St. George was one of the best known figures in Christendom, due both to his unique story as well as for the help he gave to the various Spanish kingdoms in the fight against the enemies of Jesus Christ. His cult spread to New Spain where he was known, although not in the same manner as in Europe. But nevertheless, in the cathedral of the bishopric of Durango, the efforts of bishop Pedro Anselmo Sánchez de Tagle interests resulted in St. George being declared patron of the city in 1749 by both civil and ecclesiastical chapters. This event granted the saint another function: the fight against poisonous animals, specifically, the scorpions endemic to the region. As a result, the Saint's iconography experienced an unprecedented and meaningful change that included the depiction of a series of arachnids alongside the dragon. This is reflected in the canvas that is still located in the sacristy of this cathedral, a painting that is unique in the History of Art.   KEYWORDS: Saint George; Iconography; Bishop; Nobiliary Shield; Scorpions; Devotion; Sacristy.     RESUMEN: San Jorge fue una de las figuras más difundidas en todo el Cristianismo, tanto por su singular historia como por el auxilio que prestó a los diversos reinos españoles en la lucha contra los enemigos de Jesucristo. Su culto logró llegar a la Nueva España donde fue conocido, aunque no siempre con el mismo sentido. Así, en la Catedral del Obispado de Durango, los intereses del obispo Pedro Anselmo Sánchez de Tagle lograron que el Cabildo Civil y el Cabildo Eclesiástico juraran a este santo como patrono de la ciudad en 1749. Este hecho le asignó una nueva encomienda: la lucha contra los animales ponzoñosos, específicamente los alacranes. Igualmente, este evento inédito permitió que a través de los años, la visualidad habitual de san Jorge haya experimentado uno de los cambios más significativos, al incluir una serie de arácnidos junto a la famosa representación del dragón. Lo anterior se ve reflejado en el gran lienzo que se conserva en la sacristía de dicha catedral, el cual es único dentro de la Historia del Arte.    PALABRAS CLAVES: San Jorge; iconografía; obispo; escudo nobiliario; alacranes; devoción; sacristía.  

scholarly journals Motivstudier. Kontinuitet og fornyelse i ornamentale hybridformer fra antikken til ca. 1600

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (123) ◽  
pp. 109-134
Author(s):  
Maria Fabricius Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Art History ◽  
Visual Art ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
History Of ◽  
Italian Art ◽  
Roman Antiquity ◽  
Over Time

Representations of hybrids of human figures, plants, and animals were prolific in all media in sixteenth-century Italian art. The motif is known back from Greek and Roman antiquity, both in poetry and visual art, which the artists of the sixteenth century – or the renaissance – claimed to revive. Yet the representations of hybrids from these two periods within the history of art differ remarkably. And at the same time they belong to an iconographic tradition that did not disappear in the medieval period, an observation which blurs the picture of these ornaments as rediscovered and revived in the renaissance. How then do motifs such as foliate heads or other phyto- or zoomorph creatures develop in visual art from antiquity to ca. 1600? The topological method can be applied to a tracking of these motifs over time in order to stress continuity and analyze the transformations which took place through the centuries. This article reflects on some methodological and historiographical aspects of studies of motifs in art history. In a double-sided strategy it both aims at challenging the persistent notion of the renaissance as a period rejecting the middle ages and reviving antiquity (i.e. it stresses the continuity of the sixteenth century with the preceding centuries); and it suggest some characteristics of the visual paradigm of sixteenth-century Italian art (i.e. it describes some of the innovations of the period).

Comparing the New World and the Old: Fray Juan Bautista and the Languages of the Spanish Monarchy

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-258
Author(s):  
Daniel I. Wasserman-Soler
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
New Spain ◽  
New World ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Religious Orders ◽  
Language Strategies

Abstract Born in New Spain, fray Juan Bautista Viseo (b. 1555) authored perhaps a dozen books in Nahuatl, Castilian, and Latin, making him one of the most prolific writers of the colonial period in Mexico. While many are lost, his available texts provide a valuable window into religious conversion efforts in the Spanish monarchy around 1600. This paper investigates his recommendations regarding how priests and members of religious orders ought to use indigenous languages. In the sixteenth-century Spanish territories, Church and Crown officials discussed language strategies on several fronts. This paper also compares Juan Bautista’s ideas about language use in Mexico to similar discussions elsewhere in the Spanish kingdoms. Existing scholarship has highlighted parallels in how the Spanish monarchy dealt with Native American and Islamic communities. However, an examination of Juan Bautista’s writing, together with that of contemporary churchmen, suggests fundamental differences in the ways that Spanish officials thought about and approached Amerindians and Moriscos.

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