Cuauhtinchan: Eagle, Jaguar, Sundial

For a new wrinkle in our recent series on colonial stonework, we pay another visit to the Pueblan convento of San Juan Cuauhtinchan.    In a previous post on the murals there, we drew attention to the famous cloister mural of an Annunciation flanked by an eagle and jaguar drawn and colored in pre hispanic style (Cuauhtinchan = House of the Eagles)

We also noted the large eagle statue atop the cloister fountain. 

Sculptures of an eagle and jaguar reappear atop the parapet above the cloister. The eagle spreads his wings while jaguar shows his teeth and roars.  

 

This time they flank a colonial sundial, which seems to still be functioning!

text © 2018 Richard D. Perry.  color images by Robert Jackson