(jazzy piano music) - [Beth] We're in the National
Gallery of Art in Mexico City looking at a large painting of
the "Marriage of the Virgin". This is a common subject
in the Renaissance. - [Lauren] This painting
is by the Spanish artist, Sebastian Lopez de Arteaga, who moves from Spain to the Americas to what is today, Mexico,
what was then New Spain. And he creates this wonderful painting of the marriage between Saint
Joseph and the Virgin Mary. - [Beth] So we have the
priest in the center, who's marrying Joseph on the
left and Mary on the right. And Joseph has in his hand the ring, and Mary holds out her
fingers to accept that ring. And Joseph looks so young and handsome, I had to remind myself for a second, because he looks so Christ-like, that he was Joseph and not Christ. - [Lauren] And it's in this
moment that we're beginning to see the shift in the
iconography of Joseph, where instead of being
marginalized on the outskirts of the composition as this older man who is often sleeping, here, we see the young,
strapping, handsome verile man. - [Beth] It's true that
for centuries in Europe, the emphasis was on Mary, but in the 16th and 17th Centuries, we have this new interest in Joseph. The Holy Spirit is just
above Joseph's head here, swooping in and so we have this sense of this earthly marriage
here between Joseph and Mary, the delight of the angels in heaven and the musical instruments
played in celebration of their marriage by angels. - [Lauren] And I think
it's important to discuss the importance of Joseph
here in New Spain. Early on after the conquest,
during the conversion process, St. Joseph becomes the
patron Saint of New Spain, and there are very
specific reasons for that. He is the patron saint of
conversion, for instance. - [Beth] Well, he's the first convert. He experiences a vision
from God who explains that the baby that Mary
carries is in fact, Christ. The baby is divine, the baby is God. And so in a way, he is
the first Christian. - [Lauren] In the context of
this moment of evangelization of the vast indigenous populations, Joseph becomes incredibly important. - [Beth] You know, these
figures are so close to us that it feels like we're part of the marriage ceremony with them. We see faintly behind them
a church-like setting, but the emphasis is really on the figures and the divine nature of this marriage. And we have above the priest, the Hebrew letters for God. This artist didn't always
paint in this style. - [Lauren] Early on when he first arrived, he'd paint what we would
call caravaggesque realism, this style focused on earth tones, dramatic differences
between light and shadow. And in fact, we're looking
at some of his earlier depictions here in the gallery
that are paired with this painting of the marriage. They couldn't be more different. - [Beth] Well, the earlier
painting of the Doubting Thomas, of Thomas touching Christ's
wounds so that he believes that in fact, this is Christ resurrected, there's a realism there
and the wounds of Christ and the faces of the apostles who look on, but here in this painting of
the marriage of the Virgin, we have figures who are more
beautiful, more idealized. - [Lauren] Some of that
earlier attention to detail and naturalistic elements,
you do find those here in this painting, particularly in the face of the priest. It's wrinkled and the
attention to the beard, or even in the carpet that
all the figures stand on, where you do get the sense
that he wants to portray objects as they would
have appeared in nature. The reason for that shift is actually when Lopez de Arteaga first arrives here, he was painting in a
style that was in vogue back on the Iberian Peninsula, but quickly learned that what was desired was this more colorful,
more idealized style that we're seeing here in the marriage. And I think the point you made
earlier about this glorifying of the marriage is also
important in terms of marriage. Monogamy became such an important point to convey to this population here. - [Beth] Monogamy, fatherhood,
being a good father, these are all things
that Joseph could help the church to convey. - [Lauren] And what we see
in, say, the 16th Century is this belief that the
indigenous populations were too polygamous. They weren't practicing monogamy. What we're seeing here in this painting is that continued notion that
you needed to communicate the importance of a chaste,
monogamous marriage. - [Beth] So we have an
artist who comes from Spain, learns that what he's
painting is not in vogue, changes his style to match
the desires of his patrons and a subject matter that
has particular relevance for New Spain. (jazzy piano music)