New Spanish Baroque
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New Spanish Baroque, also known as Mexican Baroque, refers to Baroque art in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. During this period, artists of New Spain experimented with expressive, contrasting, and realistic creative approaches, making art that became highly popular in New Spanish society.
Among notable artworks are polychrome sculptures, which as well as the technical skill they display, reflect the expressiveness and the colour contrasts characteristic of New Spanish Baroque.
Two styles can be traced in the architecture of New Spain: the Salomónico, developed from the mid-17th century, and the Estípite, which began in the early 18th century.
A model of the
Painting
In the realm of painting, New Spanish baroque had great artists whose works are in museums such as the Museum of the Viceroyalty in Tepotzotlán, El Carmen Museum in San Ángel, Santa Mónica Museum in Puebla, and Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City.
Among the most distinguished artists were:
Simón Pereyns
Simón Pereyns lived in Antwerp c. 1530 then Mexico c. 1600. He was a Flemish painter and in 1558, he moved to Lisbon and then to Madrid, where he worked as a court artist.
In 1566, he went to New Spain, achieved fame with his paintings in
Pereyns was put on trial on religious charges. His beliefs were inherited from his ancestors, specifically his father, who was a
Juan Correa
Juan Correa (1646-1716) was a Novohispanic painter active between 1676 and 1716. His painting covers topics both religious and secular. One of his best works is considered to be the "Assumption of the Virgin" in the Cathedral of Mexico City; several of his works depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe found their way to Spain.[2] He also made paintings of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Rome in 1669.
Cristóbal de Villalpando
Some of Cristóbal de Villalpando's (c. 1649 – 1714) early work dates from 1675 with the high altar of the Franciscan convent of St. Martin of Tours in Huaquechula, where there are 17 of his paintings; but that is not necessarily the beginning of his career. It is likely that the painter was born in Mexico City in 1649. Little is known about his childhood and adolescence, the earliest documented date being his wedding in 1669. He married María de Mendoza, with whom he had four children.
Undoubtedly, Villalpando was one of the foremost painters of Mexico City during the latter part of the 17th century, as evidenced by the collection of triumphal paintings that were commissioned by the council of the Cathedral of Mexico, for decorating the walls of the sacristy of the church. The canvases prepared for that commission were: The Triumph of the Catholic Church, The Triumph of St. Peter, St. Michael's victory (known as Woman of the Apocalypse) and the appearance of St. Michael on
Due to this hindrance to his work at Mexico City, Villalpando moved to
Miguel Cabrera
Miguel Cabrera (1695-1768) was an extraordinarily prolific artist, specialising in depictions of the
His paintings were very much in demand: many requests for pictures came from convents, churches, palaces, and noble houses.
Writing and philosophy
A wide range of poets and writers fell within the New Spanish Baroque tradition.
Gutierre de Cetina
Gutierre de Cetina (1520 - 1557) was a Spanish poet of the Renaissance and the
Eyes clear, calm,
Since you are praised for your tender gaze,
Why, when you look at me, do you look angry?
In the same songbook there are many sonnets whose pattern was essentially the rendering of a loving thought of Petrarch or Ausiàs March in the quartets, and a further, more personal development in the tercets.
In 1554 Cetina returned to Spain and in 1556 went to Mexico; he had previously been there between 1546 and 1548, with his uncle Gonzalo Lopez, who had gone there as chief accountant. He fell in love again, with Leonor de Osma, and was mortally wounded in 1557 in
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón y Mendoza
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón y Mendoza (c.1581 - 1639) was born in
Little is known about the early life of Ruiz de Alarcón. It is known that his maternal grandfather was
While in
In the first months of 1607 he returned to New Spain. Two years later he obtained a bachelor's degree in law and several times tried unsuccessfully to gain a university chair. His next move was to Madrid, where he began the most fruitful period of his literary output. His early works were "Las Paredes Oyen" (Walls Have Ears) and "Los Pechos Privilegiados" (The Privileged), both meeting with some success. He soon came to be recognised in literary circles in Madrid, but never established close relations with any of their members. Indeed, he earned the hostility of others. We know of many satirical quatrains and disguised allusions to Alarcón, who was always ridiculed for his physique - he was a hunchback - and his American origins. He, in turn, responded to the vast majority of personal attacks and never stopped writing.
It has been suggested that he may have collaborated with Tirso de Molina, one of the most famous writers of his time and the one who most influenced his works. There are no written evidence of such a collaboration, although it is thought that at least two of the comedies of Tirso, published in the second volume of his works (Madrid, 1635), were in fact written by or with the collaboration of Alarcón.
With the accession of Philip IV, in 1621, the theater achieved an important place in the royal court. Alarcón soon struck up a useful friendship with the son-in-law of the powerful Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, Ramiro Felipe de Guzmán, under whose patronage he grew better-known as a poet. Between 1622 and 1624 he wrote "La Amistad Castigada" (Punished Friendship) and "El dueño de las estrellas" (The Owner of the Stars) as well as the vast majority of his plays. From 1625 he served on the Council of the Indies, thanks to the intercession of his friend Ramiro Felipe de Guzmán.
During the first months of 1639, Alarcón's health began to deteriorate. He stopped attending the council's meetings and was replaced in his position as rapporteur. In August he dictated his will, making provision for all his debts and debtors. He died on August 4, 1639, and was buried in the parish of San Sebastián.
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora (1645 - 1700) was the youngest son of eight children and was related to the famous Baroque Culteranismo poet Luis de Góngora. His father was a tutor to the royal family in Spain; after he emigrated to the New World he joined the bureaucracy of the viceroyalty.
In 1662, Sigüenza entered the Jesuit college of
Until recently it had been thought that another of his works, "Los infortunios de Alonso Ramírez" (1690), describing the adventures of a
The heavy rains of 1691 flooded the fields and threatened to flood the city; the wheat crop was devastated by a disease. Sigüenza used a precursor of the microscope to discover that the cause of this disease in wheat was the Chiahuiztli, an insect like the flea. As a result of this disaster, the following year there was a severe shortage of food which caused large-scale rioting. Mobs looted Spaniards' shops and caused numerous fires in government buildings. Sigüenza managed to salvage the city library from the fire, avoiding a great loss. Sigüenza estimated that about ten thousand people took part in the riot. As the royal cosmographer of New Spain he drew hydrologic maps of the Valley of Mexico. In 1693 he was sent by the viceroy as a companion of Andrés de Pez in an exploration trip to the north of the Gulf of Mexico and in particular the peninsula of Florida, where he drew maps of Pensacola Bay and the mouth of the Mississippi River. This experience may have inspired him to write about marine adventure in the "Misfortunes of Alonso Ramirez".
In his later years he spent much time collecting material for a history of ancient Mexico. Unfortunately, his untimely death interrupted the work, which was not resumed until centuries later when criolla self-awareness had developed enough to be interested in the identity of their nation. Sigüenza had directed that upon his death, his valuable library with more than 518 books would be donated to a Jesuit school, and his body handed over to medical research in order to find a cure for the disease that caused his death.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651 - 1695), known as the "Tenth
Sor Juana eventually retired from writing and poetry to devote herself to religious work. She became characterized by a famous phrase: "I, the worst of all." In 1695, an epidemic of plague affected the capital of New Spain, including the Convento de San Jerónimo. Sor Juana helped care for the sick until she contracted the plague and died.
See also
References
- ^ Philadelphia Museum of Art (1908). Bulletin - Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
- ^ The Virgin of Guadalupe, a painting by the colonial artist Juan Correa Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine colonial-mexico.com