An 18th-century painting from New Spain visualizes Christ's suffering in New Spain
New Spain: c. 1521 – 1821
San Agustín de Acolman’s style suggests a protective function, and may have referenced the temple of Jerusalem, celebrating Mexico as a “New Jerusalem” where the Christian faith could flourish.
A new Jerusalem in the Americas—the convento ...
A Nativity group made in wood from colonial Guatemala shows why sculptors from this area were renowned in the viceroyalties
Nativity group, from Guatemala
The images in the Huexotzinco Codex help us to learn more about tribute, conquest and the conditions of colonialism, Native agency, Nahua writing systems, Indigenous knowledge, the importance of images, early Christianity in the Americas, and legal disputes.
The Codex Huexotzinco
One of the most remarkable churches from 18th-century Mexico has a façade and interior that seem to writhe with life.
Church of Santa Prisca and San Sebastian, ...
Merchants brought goods from across oceans to sell to the residents of the city in the Parián of Mexico City—a place that Cristóbal de Villalpando's captures in a painting from 1695
Cristóbal de Villalpando, View of the Plaza ...
Images of angels and saints as protectors were common in the 16th–18th Spanish Americas to symbolize their defense of the Christian faith.
Defensive saints and angels in the Spanish ...
One of the most famous types of female portraits in the colonial Spanish Americas are the monjas coronadas, or crowned nuns, so named for the elaborate floral crowns atop their heads.
Crowned nun portraits, an introduction
At the Alamo, the representation of patriotic heroism and brave sacrifice eclipses Spain’s earlier colonial presence and the history of the site’s ruination, reconstruction, and reframing.
Mission San Antonio de Valero & the ...
Elites of New Spain decorated their private residencies with portraits, furniture, silver, textiles, and ceramics to showcase their wealth and status in colonial society.
Elite secular art in New Spain
Learn more about a map from 16th-century Mexico, made by an Indigenous artist to document the town of Cholula, to be sent back to Spain.
Map of Cholula, from the relaciones geográficas
From a live webinar: Dr. Elena FitzPatrick Sifford on Casta paintings
From a live webinar: Dr. Elena FitzPatrick ...
Did you know that the first American Revolution took place in New Mexico?
The Virgin of the Macana and the ...
A pendant triptych in boxwood and feathers reveals the dynamic global interactions between Europe and the Americas in the 1500s
A Renaissance miniature in wood and feathers
The early art of Hispaniola is important because the island was the first point of long-term contact between the cultures of Europe, America, and Africa.
Hispaniola’s early colonial art, an introduction
These challenging paintings visually separate Indigenous Americans from the Spanish elite; most were exported.
Francisco Clapera, set of sixteen casta paintings
A manuscript tells the Indigenous side of a historic battle in Aztec Tenochtitlan.
Remembering the Toxcatl Massacre: The Beginning of ...
Throughout the colonial period, this reproductive medium allowed for the wide circulation of images to a broad public, creating a shared religious and political culture.
Prints and Printmakers in Colonial New Spain
This ivory sculpture of Jesus traveled between three continents.
Christ Crucified, a Hispano-Philippine ivory
Santiago became an important saint in New Spain, recast to convey Spanish dominance over the Indigenous population in the sixteenth century.
Browse Smarthistory images for teaching & learning!
