The first book ever printed by an American author was Rhetorica Christiana by Diego de Valadés, who was born in Mexico to a Spanish conquistador father and an indigenous mother.
New Spain: c. 1521 – 1821
Find out what happens to classical Renaissance architecture when it arrives in New Spain.
Classical Architecture in Viceregal Mexico
Once there was a color so valuable that emperors and conquistadors coveted it, and so did kings and cardinals. Artists went wild over it. Pirates ransacked ships for it.
The Bug That Had the World Seeing ...
What does the music of heaven sound like?
What does the music of heaven sound ...
After Columbus landed on Hispaniola in 1492, items from the Americas were shipped to Europe where they were perceived as exotic items of wonder and fascination.
The Medici collect the Americas
Built by Catholic monks to convert the indigenous population, these spaces combined pre-Hispanic and European forms.
Mission churches as theaters of conversion in ...
Why are these murals in the cloister of Acolman painted in only black and white?
Murals from New Spain, San Agustín de ...
The Conceptionists were founded for elite, pure-blooded Spanish women. This nun just took her vows.
Crowned Nun Portrait of Sor María de ...
The beguiling—and tragic—story of the Carvajal family of crypto-Jews, is illuminated by the manuscripts Luis made.
The manuscripts of Luis de Carvajal
The original image of the Virgin of Guadalupe was miraculously produced—this mother-of-pearl version was man-made.
Miguel González, The Virgin of Guadalupe
A continuous narrative, this shows three different parts of the story, each in a different part of the landscape.
Baltasar de Echave Ibía, The Hermits
The Spanish reused the stones of pagan temples to build their new capital atop the Aztec city, Tenochtitlan.
New Spain, an introduction
This screen offers an idealized bird’s eye view of Mexico City on one side, and depicts the Conquest on the other.
Biombo with the Conquest of Mexico and ...
Cabrera fancied himself the Michelangelo of Mexico, but chose to borrow the format and iconography of Rubens.
Miguel Cabrera, Virgin of the Apocalypse
The convento atrium was a place for preaching. This cross taught new converts about Christianity.
Atrial Cross at Acolman
This remarkable object takes its subject from European prints, but was made by an indigenous artist.
Featherworks: The Mass of St. Gregory
This multimedia architectural altarpiece took two decades to complete, and required teams of workers in many media.
Jerónimo de Balbás, Altar of the Kings (Altar ...
Japanese objects came through Mexico on their way to Spain, and had a lasting impact on the arts of the New World.
Screen with the Siege of Belgrade and ...
This mesa in New Mexico is believed to hold one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the US.
Mission Church, San Esteban del Rey, Acoma ...
Casta paintings were colonial Mexico’s version of 23andMe—but come from a place of social and racial anxiety.