Library Catalog
Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com

The Paradise Garden Murals of Malinalco : Utopia and Empire in Sixteenth-Century Mexico / Jeanette Favrot Peterson.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Austin : University of Texas Press, [2021]Copyright date: ©1993Description: 1 online resource (246 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780292769182
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 751.7/3/097252 20
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter One INTRODUCTION -- Chapter Two MALINALCO AND THE AUGUSTINIANS -- Chapter Three THE PAINTERS -- Chapter Four THE SOURCE -- Chapter Five THE IMAGERY: FLORA AND FAUNA -- Chapter Six PARADISE CONVERGED -- Chapter Seven UTOPIA AND IMPERIAL POLICY -- Chapter Eight THE AUGUSTINIAN MURAL PROGRAM -- Chapter Nine UTOPIA LOST -- Appendix A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MEXICAN MONASTERIES VISITED -- Appendix B FIFTEENTH-AND EARLY SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MURALS IN SPAIN -- Appendix C FLORA IN THE MALINALCO GARDEN FRESCOES -- Appendix D FAUNA IN THE MALINALCO GARDEN FRESCOES -- Appendix E SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MURAL THEMES IN MEXICO AND PRIMARY MONASTIC LOCATIONS -- NOTES -- REFERENCES CITED -- INDEX
Summary: The valley of Malinalco, Mexico, long renowned for its monolithic Aztec temples, is a microcosm of the historical changes that occurred in the centuries preceding and following the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century. In particular, the garden frescoes uncovered in 1974 at the Augustinian monastery of Malinalco document the collision of the European search for Utopia with the reality of colonial life. In this study, Jeanette F. Peterson examines the murals within the dual heritage of pre-Hispanic and European muralism to reveal how the wall paintings promoted the political and religious agendas of the Spanish conquerors while preserving a record of pre-Columbian rituals and imagery. She finds that the utopian themes portrayed at Malinalco and other Augustinian monasteries were integrated into a religious and political ideology that, in part, camouflaged the harsh realities of colonial policies toward the native population. That the murals were ultimately whitewashed at the end of the sixteenth century suggests that the "spiritual conquest" failed. Peterson argues that the incorporation of native features ultimately worked to undermine the orthodoxy of the Christian message. She places the murals' imagery within the pre-Columbian tlacuilo (scribe-painter) tradition, traces a "Sahagún connection" between the Malinalco muralists and the native artists working at the Franciscan school of Tlatelolco, and explores mural painting as an artistic response to acculturation. The book is beautifully illustrated with 137 black-and-white figures, including photographs and line drawings. For everyone interested in the encounter between European and Native American cultures, it will be essential reading.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780292769182

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- Chapter One INTRODUCTION -- Chapter Two MALINALCO AND THE AUGUSTINIANS -- Chapter Three THE PAINTERS -- Chapter Four THE SOURCE -- Chapter Five THE IMAGERY: FLORA AND FAUNA -- Chapter Six PARADISE CONVERGED -- Chapter Seven UTOPIA AND IMPERIAL POLICY -- Chapter Eight THE AUGUSTINIAN MURAL PROGRAM -- Chapter Nine UTOPIA LOST -- Appendix A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MEXICAN MONASTERIES VISITED -- Appendix B FIFTEENTH-AND EARLY SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MURALS IN SPAIN -- Appendix C FLORA IN THE MALINALCO GARDEN FRESCOES -- Appendix D FAUNA IN THE MALINALCO GARDEN FRESCOES -- Appendix E SIXTEENTH-CENTURY MURAL THEMES IN MEXICO AND PRIMARY MONASTIC LOCATIONS -- NOTES -- REFERENCES CITED -- INDEX

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

The valley of Malinalco, Mexico, long renowned for its monolithic Aztec temples, is a microcosm of the historical changes that occurred in the centuries preceding and following the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century. In particular, the garden frescoes uncovered in 1974 at the Augustinian monastery of Malinalco document the collision of the European search for Utopia with the reality of colonial life. In this study, Jeanette F. Peterson examines the murals within the dual heritage of pre-Hispanic and European muralism to reveal how the wall paintings promoted the political and religious agendas of the Spanish conquerors while preserving a record of pre-Columbian rituals and imagery. She finds that the utopian themes portrayed at Malinalco and other Augustinian monasteries were integrated into a religious and political ideology that, in part, camouflaged the harsh realities of colonial policies toward the native population. That the murals were ultimately whitewashed at the end of the sixteenth century suggests that the "spiritual conquest" failed. Peterson argues that the incorporation of native features ultimately worked to undermine the orthodoxy of the Christian message. She places the murals' imagery within the pre-Columbian tlacuilo (scribe-painter) tradition, traces a "Sahagún connection" between the Malinalco muralists and the native artists working at the Franciscan school of Tlatelolco, and explores mural painting as an artistic response to acculturation. The book is beautifully illustrated with 137 black-and-white figures, including photographs and line drawings. For everyone interested in the encounter between European and Native American cultures, it will be essential reading.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Apr 2022)