Cultural Conversation at Rienzi | “The Global Mexican Baroque”
Roberto Tejada
Miguel González, Infant Jesus and Infant John the Baptist, second half of 17th century, oil and mother-of-pearl inlay on wooden panel, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Rienzi Collection, Museum purchase funded by the Rienzi Society.
Money Box, c. 1700 Mexico, calabash gourd and iron, the Rienzi Collection, museum purchase funded by Ann Gordon Trammell.
Money Box, c. 1700 Mexico, calabash gourd and iron, the Rienzi Collection, museum purchase funded by Ann Gordon Trammell.
October 12, 2024
Rienzi presents this cultural conversation in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Assistant curator Misty Flores and author Roberto Tejada from the University of Houston discuss the arts of Viceregal Mexico in the Rienzi Collection, along with contemporary implications of the Baroque aesthetic. The collection offers a unique opportunity to examine the artistic exchange between Europe, Asia, and the Indigenous Americas during the Viceregal period in Mexico (1535–1821).
The Mexican Baroque, a unique artistic language that emerged from the Spanish conquest of the New World in 1521, was not merely imitating European styles. It resulted from significant alterations as the Baroque intersected with the customs of local cultures. Colonial artists adapted the European Baroque to the local context by incorporating elements, traditions, symbols, and beliefs of Indigenous origins. This blending of European and native imagery contributed to developing a distinct colonial visual aesthetic in the Americas.
Tickets
- $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (65+), $5 for students and youth (ages 13–18), free for children (12 & younger)
- Free for MFAH Members
Rienzi is the MFAH house museum for European decorative arts. Learn More
Questions? rienzi@mfah.org
Education programs at Rienzi receive generous funding from the Sterling-Turner Foundation; Alkek and Williams Foundation; Carroll Sterling and Harris Masterson III Endowment; and the Caroline Wiess Law Endowment for Rienzi.