Mexican Crosses: Ahuizotl's Box

   

the cross at Santa Maria Nativitas-Zacapa

Ahuitzotl's Box ?

In 1499, the Aztec emperor Ahuitzotl* completed an important aqueduct from Coyoacán in the southern part of present day Mexico City to his island capital of Tenochtitlan.

To commemorate this achievement, a number of carved, box like monuments, inscribed with this date Seven Reed (ácatl) in the Aztec calendar, were reputedly placed as markers along the causeway beside the route of the ancient aqueduct.

While most of these have been lost or mutilated, one putative complete example was recycled as the base of an atrium cross in the picturesque waterside community of Nativitas-Zacapa near Xochimilco, to the south of Mexico City. 

In addition to the 7 Reed glyph, the day sign 1 miquiztli, a skull signifying Death, was carved on two other faces.  On the fourth side is carved a relief of  4-ollín, the Aztec Fifth Sun glyph.

the Aztec date 7 ácatl, or Seven Reed

 the Aztec day sign 1 Miquiztli

   

4-0llín, the Aztec Fifth Sun glyph

Ahuitzotl, the eighth Tlatoani of Mexico (Codez Mendoza)

* Ahuitzotl was the eighth ruler, or tlatoani, of the Aztecs. He took power in the year 7 Rabbit (1486) following the death of Tízoc, the 7th tlatoani. After the reign of his weak predecessor, the youthful Ahuitzotl oversaw an aggressive expansion of the Aztec/Mexica empire and consolidated its power. 

One of the best known Pre-Columbian military leaders, Ahuitzotl conquered the Mixtecs, Zapotecs and other groups along Mexico's Pacific coast as far as Guatemala.

At home, Ahuitzotl supervised a major rebuilding of Tenochtitlan, his island capital, on a grand scale, notably with the expansion and completion of the Great Pyramid or Templo Mayor. 

The aqueduct project was less of a success; its completion precipitated disastrous flooding, from which Ahuitzotl himself barely escaped, reputedly suffering a head injury that may have led to his death soon after.

He took his name from the mythical animal Ahuizotl, a combative, beaver-like creature with sharp teeth and claws also known as the Water Monster.

Ahuitzotl died in the year 10 Rabbit (1502) and was succeeded by his nephew, the ill-fated Moctezuma II. An Aztec royal tomb believed to be that of Ahuitzotl was recently uncovered in the precincts of the former Templo Mayor in Mexico City.

©2016 Richard D. Perry.   cross images by Niccolò Brooker & Diana Roberts

please review our earlier posts on Mexican crosses: Tepeapulco; Cuitzeo; Actopan: Charapan; Bucareli/El Pueblito;Tepoztlan; Uruapan; Cholula; Cajititlan; Coyoacan; Axotla; Chimalistac; Mixcoac; Huipulco; Santo Tomás Ajusco;San Pedro Martir; Atoyac; Capacho; Huandacareo; Huango; Huaniqueo; Corupo; 

The Bulls of Totolmaloya

In the past we have run several posts on the parish church and chapels of Aculco in northern Mexico State, often with a focus on the wealth of carved stone crosses in the region.

San Lucas Totolmaloya is yet another church of interest in the Aculco area, also noted for its varied stone crosses and relief carvings.

Cross One
The stubby but decorative atrium cross is mounted in front of the church, set on a pyramidal base with whitewashed corner merlons.    Probably a late colonial work or a modern copy thereof, the cross employs a simple cross-within-a-cross motif as at San Jerónimo Aculco.  

   A starburst is incised at the axis and tiny Calvary crosses nestle in the showy fleurs-de-lis finials that blossom from the arms and neck. Another finial sprouts at the foot, from whose "ears" the cross seems to issue. 
   The pedestal on which the cross sits is more densely carved, with tiny reliefs of Calvary crosses, floral urns and petaled blooms on each corner—possibly predating the cross itself.

Note: the cross is currently (2016) lodged in the church while the atrium pedestal is under repairs.

 

Cross Two
A second, plainer but older cross—possibly the original atrium cross or a model for the present one—is set above the atrium gateway. 
   Here the underlying stepped pedestal is carved on both sides with paired reliefs of facing bulls—the bull being the symbol of the patron saint, St. Luke the evangelist. 

Cross Three
The third cross, in the form of a relief, is located inside the nave of the church beside the sanctuary, and also underlain by a pair of anatomically correct if skinny bullocks.

    

More carved bull reliefs are found on the medallions supporting the pinnacles atop the facade on either side. On their backs, both animals bear what appear to be books (or ink pots?) with projecting feathers or quills—a further reference to the Gospel of St. Luke, whose disembodied arm projects into one of the reliefs!
   While the date of the bull reliefs is uncertain, they may belong to the later colonial period.

Finally, one more cross, also plain, sits atop the church gable, behind which is mounted a remnant colonial sundial.

text & graphic © 2016 Richard D. Perry.  color images by Javier Lara, by special permission

Many thanks to Javier Lara for his valuable research, commentary and images on which this post is based.

The Dogs of San Gerónimo Tlamaco

We take a break from our series on murals to look at the portrayal of animals in carved reliefs from a variety of early Mexican churches.

San Gerónimo Tlamaco  (Alessia Frassani)

Among the pleasures of traveling through the state of Hidalgo, north of the Valley of Mexico, is exploring the lesser known colonial churches and monuments of the region.

   One of these gems is the little church of San Gerónimo Tlamaco with its arcaded open chapel, built in the 1570s using the local, fine grained cantera stone whose apricot hues lend a warm glow to the facade.

   

The main interest of the facade is its sculpted porch. In a quite original configuration, the broad door jambs are topped and tailed by rows of rosettes that continue upwards into the tall, square alfiz that frames the entire porch. 

   A spiraling, thorn-and-ribbon molding extends above the doorway into an inner, sharply triangular alfiz that terminates in a rosary enclosing the crowned Marian monogram. 
A fleur-de-lis cross pierces the facade overhead.

  

Dogs' heads peer out from the finely modeled, stylized grapevine that curves around the basket handle arch above the doorway—an example of tequitqui stone carving at its best.

text © 1992 & 2016 Richard D. Perry

images courtesy of Niccolò Brooker and Alessia Frassani

Mexican Murals: Metztitlan, the Tecpan eagle

 The Tecpan

This 16th century structure, also known as La Tercena or Cabildo de Indios, is located down the hill from the grand priory of Santos Reyes in Metztitlan (Hidalgo). 
   Although in colonial times this structure served several purposes, it was primarily the tecpan, a civic building that was the focus of indigenous activity and native leadership in the colonial community.    
   A modest building, it consisting of an open arcaded front and an earlier inner room — probably the oldest such tecpan to survive from colonial times in Mexico. Recently restored, it retains several architectural features of note, not the least being the carved spiral columns that form the entry arcade—features that signaled its importance. 

At one time covered with murals, now largely effaced, the walls of the inner chamber still retain a few distinguishable traces. 
   On the east wall, between a foliated upper frieze with shore birds and a running dado of painted, ornamental shell niches below, appears the unusual image of a large, turquoise hued eagle holding a scorpion in its beak; this is accompanied by an abbreviated Latin inscription: Iusta Ultio, or Final Justice—an image taken from the illustrated Emblemata of Andrea Alciato. 

This unique mural fragment and its accompanying inscription raises issues of interpretation.
   As a prominent symbol of patriotic pride and military valor in both Spanish and Aztec cultures, the eagle here may represent a power for good devouring the scorpion, often seen as a symbol of evil and diabolical intent (although the original text implied the opposite sentiment)
   Since the mural appears in a secular building and a center of native power, another reading may be the native Aztec eagle triumphing over the poisonous interloper, i.e: the Spanish colonists—a subversive indigenous twist!

The resemblance of the image to the mythic emblem of the Aztecs, later adopted for the Mexican flag, may thus be intentional.

text © 2016 Richard D. Perry.  mural images by Robert Jackson
see our other posts on Mexican Murals:  Cuautinchán; Xometla; Culhuacán; Zacualpan; 
Ozumba; Tlalmanalco; Ixmilquilpan; Mama;  Izucar; Tree murals; Tepeapulco; Tula; Epazoyucan; Zempoala; Yecapixtla;

Mexican Murals: St. Helen at Tula and Tepeji

St. Helen, the mother of Constantine the Great, is remembered, according to tradition, as the discoverer of the true cross, unearthed near Jerusalem following a dream. Together with her son, she was instrumental in the spread of Christianity during the late Roman empire.

   Although a notable historical and religious figure, she is infrequently shown in early Mexican murals. However two unusual portraits are found in the neighboring Franciscan monasteries of San José Tula and San Francisco Tepeji in the state of Hidalgo. 

First, at Tula, in a cloister fresco, Helen is portrayed as an empress, richly robed and wearing a crown. She holds up the rough hewn cross. Behind her to the left is a ziggurat style structure, probably representing the pagan temple erected by the Romans over the Holy Sepulcher, which she demolished to build a Christian church. Below the ziggurat, men labor to unearth the true cross buried there, according to legend.

In the large cloister mural at Tepeji, St. Helen appears again, still sumptuously robed although with no crown to indicate her royal status.  Here she holds a very large cross, tinted in a reddish brown hue. A palatial structure is shown behind her, although the poor condition of the fresco makes an identification problematic.  
   The Emperor Constantine is outlined in the adjacent panel, crowned and holding an ornate cross and the imperial scepter, while workers excavate the cross below. 
To our knowledge this paired portrayal of Helen and Constantine is unique among Mexican conventual murals.

text ©2016 Richard D. Perry. color images courtesy of Diana Roberts & Robert Jackson

see our other posts on Mexican Murals:  Cuautinchán; Xometla; Culhuacán; Zacualpan; 
Ozumba; Tlalmanalco; Ixmilquilpan; Mama;  Izucar; Tree murals; Tepeapulco; Tula; Epazoyucan; Zempoala; Yecapixtla;

Mexican Murals. Tzintzuntzan: two portraits (update)

San Francisco Tzintzuntzan 

Portraits of saints, martyrs and other notables, both biblical and connected to the religious orders, abound in early murals adorning the missions and conventos of Mexico. However it is rare to find portraits of specific persons in the places to which they are historically connected. 

   The grand monastery of Tzintzuntzan, beside Lake Patzcuaro in Michoacán, is even more unusual in that it contains mural portraits of two eminent Franciscans who worked and held important positions there and in the immediate area in early colonial times.

The first portrait is located in the arcaded porteria in front of the convento.  A black robed figure is identified in a ribbon style Spanish inscription as Fray Pedro de Pila, the builder of Tzintzuntzan and other area Franciscan missions.
   He is flanked by diminutive native and Spanish dignitaries rendered in a range of red, blue, green and earth and flesh tones that suggest a date in the early 1600s.  A second inscription, with a bishop's crozier and miter, quotes St Paul, “If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth good works.”

The second mural, also in color and located on the main stairway to the upper cloister, portrays Fray Jácobo Daciano, a pioneering Franciscan and aristocratic founder of many missions in Michoacán, including nearby Tarecuato* where he is buried. 

   An associate and reputed mentor of Fray Pedro de Pila, Fray Jácobo is shown in his traditional apostolic guise as a pilgrim with cloak, staff and broad hat.

text, graphic and color images © 2016 Richard D. Perry
see our other posts on Mexican Murals:  Cuautinchán; Xometla; Culhuacán; Zacualpan; 
Ozumba; Tlalmanalco; Ixmilquilpan; Mama;  Izucar; Tree murals; Tepeapulco; Tula; Epazoyucan; Zempoala; Yecapixtla;
*for more on Tarecuato and Fray Jacobo Daciano see our guidebook Blue Lakes & Silver Cities

Yucatan, then and now: Santa Isabel Ticuch

We close our current series on Yucatán, Then and Now, with a look at the recently restored village church of Ticuch in eastern Yucatán.

  

Santa Isabel Ticuch: facade in 1984;  espadaña detail 2007

Located just east of Valladolid, Yucatan's second city, Santa Isabel Ticuch is the only regional church dedicated to this royal French saint, better known as Elizabeth of Portugal, a Franciscan tertiary.  
   Ticuch is noted for its elegant espadaña towering above the west front, fancifully detailed with ogival bell openings, unusual "slotted" scrolls, heart shaped pierced openings and topped with diminutive "mushroom" finials.

Ticuch: the nave exterior and abandoned camarín in 1984

The substantial church has recently undergone complete conservation and repainting, including restoration of the abandoned camarín of theVirgin at the rear.

  

The renovated church and camarín 2013

The conservation work at Ticuch, as with so many other restoration projects in Yucatan, was undertaken and completed with the dedicated professionalism of INAH restorer Cuauhtemoc Fernando Garcés Fierros with the usual support and dedication of the local chapter of Adopte una Obra de Arte, headed by the redoubtable Elva Villarreal de Garcia Ponce.

Elva Villarreal de Garcia Ponce with restored painting of Our Lady of the Rosary at Ticuch

text ©2016 Richard D. Perry. 1984 & 2007 color images of Ticuch by the author

for more on colonial Yucatán see our guidebook: