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AP®︎/College Art History
Course: AP®︎/College Art History > Unit 5
Lesson 5: Colonial Americas- Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza
- Master of Calamarca, Angel with Arquebus
- Screen with the Siege of Belgrade and Hunting Scene (Brooklyn Biombo)
- Miguel González, The Virgin of Guadalupe
- Virgin of Guadalupe
- Virgin of Guadalupe
- Spaniard and Indian Produce a Mestizo, attributed to Juan Rodriguez
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Screen with the Siege of Belgrade and Hunting Scene (Brooklyn Biombo)
The folding screen from Mexico, created around 1700, showcases a unique blend of Japanese, European, and Mexican influences. Known as a biombo, it features a battle scene on one side and a hunting scene on the other. The screen was owned by Viceroy José Sarmiento de Valladares and displayed in his palace, reflecting the wealth and power of the Spanish colonies. The biombo enconchado technique, using mother-of-pearl inlays, adds a captivating touch to this fascinating piece of art.
Circle of the Gonzales family (artist), c. 1697-1701, Mexico, oil on wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, 229.9 x 275.8 cm (Brooklyn Museum and Museo Nacional del Virreinato - INAH, Tepotzotlán)
Speakers: Dr. Lauren G. Kilroy-Ewbank and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Steven Zucker and Beth Harris.
Circle of the Gonzales family (artist), c. 1697-1701, Mexico, oil on wood, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, 229.9 x 275.8 cm (Brooklyn Museum and Museo Nacional del Virreinato - INAH, Tepotzotlán)
Speakers: Dr. Lauren G. Kilroy-Ewbank and Dr. Steven Zucker. Created by Steven Zucker and Beth Harris.
Want to join the conversation?
- The portrait of the viceroy looks cross-eyed XD(18 votes)
- So true! But if you look at it in the corner of your eye, it seems normal. I think.(1 vote)
- Very interesting how elements from Japanese art have been turned into something else; cross-pollinating ideas do yield really interesting results. Are there any other examples of this around the globe during this period?(5 votes)
- There are many examples of art derived of style characteristics of many cultures and regions. For instance, the Golden Haggadah is a Jewish illuminated manuscript that is painted in a Western European style, with religious figures depicted in a Gothic way and knights in armor, which is not traditionally Jewish. Art is constantly changing because of the integrations and influences of other cultures(5 votes)
- I don't recall mother-of-pearl being used in much European art? Was this a technique utilized and reserved for the "new world"?(5 votes)
- The mother-of-pearl is from Asian art, I think.(1 vote)
- AtWhat is swagisi? 6:02(2 votes)
- Was Viceroy Jose Sarmiento de Valladares permanently cross-eyed or did the painter of the picture of him atjust portray him that way? 1:54(1 vote)
Video transcript
(piano playing) Lauren: We're standing here
in front of a folding screen from Mexico made about 1700. Steven: This is just wild. This is one of the most complicated
objects I have ever looked at. Lauren: It's actually
a really unique object. This folding screen is inspired
by Japanese folding screen and we call it a biombo and
so a biombo actually comes from the Japanese word for folding screen. Steven: But this is a word that would
have been used in the Spanish colony that is now Mexico. Lauren: Right, at this
point in time Mexico is part of the Viceroyalty of New
Spain, comprised of parts of
the southwestern United States, Mexico and down through Central America. The viceroy is actually the
administrator for the king. Steven: You have the king in
Spain, his colony in the new world, and they're looking to
Japan for inspiration. Lauren: Exactly. Early in the 17th century there's
this interest in Japanese objects that are coming to Mexico
from the Philippines, which is also controlled
by Spain at this time. Steven: So why was there trade with
the Philippines, what was being traded? Lauren: The types of objects being
traded included folding screens, lacquerware boxes, ivory
goods and other luxury items. Steven: I'm seeing at the base and at
the top, black that looks very much like Japanese lacquer. Lauren: As these lacquer
boxes are coming into Mexico, there's this kind of craze for Japanese
goods or Japanese inspired goods and so what we see here is actually
a Mexican artist who has created something in the guise of
a Japanese lacquerware box. And so the bottom elements have these
beautiful Japanese landscape elements and then you get the decorative
floral elements bordering the entirety of the screen. Steven: So this must have been
fabulously expensive and the height of what was in vogue at this moment. Lauren: Absolutely and in fact
we know who owned this object. It was the viceroy himself,
José Sarmiento de Valladares. Steven: And we know that at that
moment there was tremendous money being generated by these colonies. Lauren: At this time you have
huge silver mining industry, raw goods like cochineal, tobacco,
various other types of things that are all being sent back to
Europe and so people like the viceroy are able to acquire these types of goods
and put them on display in their homes. Steven: Let's take a look
at the screen itself. Most striking, at least from
this side, is this battle scene. Lauren: Half the battle scene. This biombo is actually
only half of the original. The other half is in a
museum in Mexico City. We're presented with this really
chaotic scene between members of the Habsburg empire, the Spanish
empire at the time, and the Turks. Steven: So the Habsburg's were
the family that ruled Spain and was in control of
so much of the new world but was also in control of central Europe. Lauren: The scene that it's
showing is taking place not long before this object
is produced and so this battle is actually very contemporary. Steven: We're seeing
the Battle of Belgrade, between the Ottoman Turks
encroaching into central Europe but here we are in Mexico and
this is a Japanese screen. It's just mind blowing. Lauren: Mexico being in the middle
of all these networks of exchange, the transpacific exchange,
objects being traded from Asia, going through Mexico back to Europe,
objects being traded from Europe that are then going
through Mexico to Asia. Steven: And it really blows apart the way
in which we're usually taught history. Lauren: Stylistic categories
can often break down when you see things that speak
to so many different cultures. Steven: So let's look really closely
at the styles in this screen. What I'm seeing is not only this
delicate, very thin painting, which is almost like drawing,
but I'm also seeing these areas that are just brilliantly
illuminated and it's shell. Lauren: So this object is truly unique
because this is not only a biombo, but this is part of the only
known surviving biombo enconchado. Enconchado means shell inlay so
this is a shell encrusted biombo. So it's a combination of oil
painting and mother-of-pearl that's been placed into the screen itself. Steven: I can see it in the helmet
which is making the helmet seem to shine and it's probably most prominent in
floral motifs that are at the very top that frame the battle scene. Lauren: You have to imagine
when this is placed in a room how different parts of it
would grab your attention because of the flickering candlelight. We don't know exactly who the
artist of this biombo was, but what we do know is that
it's being made locally. So it's made by an artist in New
Spain at the time for the viceroy. Most likely to be placed inside
of his new palace in Mexico City. Steven: So who would have seen this? Who was the intended audience? Lauren: Each side of the biombo were
intended for different audiences. So the side with the battle would
have been intended for the viceroy, people coming to visit the
viceroy, important individuals. People who he's bringing into
his reception room, essentially. Steven: So this would have a political
use as an expression of his power. Lauren: This particular viceroy has
come from Spain to rule over this colony and so this would assert the
dominance of the Habsburg in Mexico. Steven: And globally since this
is also the Habsburg's victory over the Ottomans. I want to go see the other side. This is completely different. This feels so much more relaxed,
it feels much more decorative. And the way that the decorative border
hangs, it looks like it's textile. Lauren: It's a hunting scene
but it really is showcasing the artist's ability to display for
us this beautiful landscape scene. I agree with you that this
side looks like this beautiful Asian inspired tapestry that might
be hanging in someone's room, someone of this wealthy status. Steven: We know that the design,
at least for the hunting scene, came from a Medici tapestry
that was made in France. Lauren: The tapestry was
then copied into a print and that's how it appears here in Mexico. And the same thing with the
other side with the battle scene, it was also based off of a
print coming from Europe. Steven: I really love
this side of the screen. You have, again, a footing
which is reminiscent of lacquerware from
Japan but then above that is a very dense botanical motif
with all of these blossoms. Creating this frame that allows
us to look into this deep space, into this really spectacular landscape. Lauren: The hunting scene that we
have a kind of feast for the eye in terms of landscape elements and
beautiful brushwork on display here. Steven: It's almost hard to
remember that we're in the new world when we're looking at
this side of the screen. The motif seems so European. Lauren: On both sides of
the screen there's actually a lot of classicizing elements,
the swags at the top held in the mouths by lions. This is a very classical element
that you see in the Renaissance that's coming from ancient Rome. So this side of the screen
was actually intended for a very different audience
than the battle scene. The battle scene was intended
for the individuals the viceroy would be receiving and this
actual side of the folding screen would have been largely viewed by women. So imagine that this is essentially
the room where the viceroy's wife and perhaps friends, et cetera,
would gather to have hot chocolate, to smoke which is very
common at this time, and to engage in conversation. So an interesting biographical
fact about the viceroy that speaks to this interesting
historical moment is that his first wife was actually a descendant from
the line of Montezuma the Second who was the Aztec ruler who died
during the Battle of Tenochtitlan during the Spanish conquest. Steven: And so what's fascinating
then is that that older royal lineage, even though they were
conquered, remains important. Lauren: You see that throughout the
Spanish Americas where indigenous peoples who can trace their lineage back to
rulers are given certain benefits that other indigenous peoples are not. It's complicated and it's hard to
know where to situate the objects but that's also what makes
it so exciting and engaging. (piano playing)