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Information to Users Eighteenth century caste paintings: The implications of Miguel Cabrera's series Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Arana, Emilia Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 01/10/2021 21:40:45 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278537 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerograpnically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 EIGHTEENTH CENTURY CASTE PAINTINGS: THE IMPLICATIONS OF MIGUEL CABRERA'S SERIES by Emilia Arana Copyright © Emilia Arana 1996 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ART In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS WITH A MAJOR IN ART HISTORY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1996 UMI Number: 1378998 Copyright 1996 by Arana, Emilia All rights reserved. UMI Microform 1378998 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: y ull ,AA( 11 \ v Stacie Graham Widdifieldifield ^vi v 'Date Professor of Art History 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 5 General Background 8 Cabrera and the Caste Series 15 Mexico City's Central Plaza 19 Summary of the Literature 21 2. SOCIAL AND RACIAL DIVISIONS IN COLONIAL MEXICO 30 3. THE CABRERA CASTE WOMEN: VIEWING THE ARTISTIC CONTEXT 42 Image Descriptions 45 Cacique and Mestiza Women 48 Revisiting the First Caste Painting 56 Conclusions and Future Directions 62 4. SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS 65 5. REFERENCES 67 ABSTRACT This study examines caste paintings, an art form unique to eighteenth century colonial Mexico. Hundreds of caste paintings were produced, following a compositional template that remained fairly uniform throughout the century. The distinguishing characteristic of these images is their depiction and labeling of Mexico's racially mixed population. A broad discussion of the caste genre places these works in the context of hierarchical colonial society. Focus is on select images by prominent Mexican artist Miguel Cabrera, and the changes Cabrera brings to the caste template. This study places particular emphasis on the women of Cabrera's first two caste paintings, using examples from portraiture and other art forms for contrast. The noble cacique Indian woman of the first image is used as a way to highlight and explore representation of the European and Indian cultures that comprised the major dichotomy of New Spain's social organization. 5 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This study examines caste paintings, a unique art form produced during colonial Mexico's eighteenth century. Although the images were produced by the hundreds, they have remained largely outside the realm of art historical scholarship until recently. Caste paintings, often anonymous or crudely painted, usually consisted of sixteen different images of adults and their child, each individual labeled according to blood lines. For example, the first image was typically entitled "Spanish man and Indian woman produce mestizo child". Several images from a 1763 caste series by well known Mexican artist Miguel Cabrera are the focus of this study. The first painting, depicting a noble cacique Indian woman, aristocratic Spaniard and their child, forms the core of an extended evaluation of the cacique woman and her European elite counterparts in colonial art. The discussion leads to an analysis of the changes Cabrera brings to the caste painting formula, especially through the emphasis he places on the Indian elements of Image One. The study proceeds to situate Cabrera's caste work within the context of period portraiture, and a large market scene from the same decade in which hundreds of Mexico City citizens are depicted. The subject matter of caste paintings, then, is rooted in the sixteenth century conquest that created a new colonial amalgam of native American, European and slave cultures in New Spain. As the subsequent process of miscegenation increased the racially mixed population, a sistema de 6 castas, or caste system, was created by Spanish law.1 The word "caste", or casta, in the context of colonial Mexico had assumed a very specific meaning and referenced anyone of mixed racial ancestry. Individuals designated as castas faced important distinctions with regard to education, the military, jobs, and marriage. The resulting system divided along socioeconomic lines which coincided with race. The ethnic labels used in caste paintings distinguishes them from all other types of eighteenth century art production. The caste genre represents a singular occurence in art history, and provides a visual synthesis of miscegenation and the social dynamics of racial intermarriage in New Spain's colonial society. To approach this topic, this research is organized into three major sections that place the caste genre in its artistic and historical contexts. The first chapter provides an overview of caste paintings, with issues ranging from the paintings' standardized compositional format to etymological background of caste names. A biographical sketch of Cabrera and summary of the literature are also included. The second chapter establishes a historical background of the race and class divisions, and interracial marriage that are the subject of caste paintings. One of those divisions is the cacique system of Indian nobility and government that existed side by side with the Spanish colonial administrative structure. The third chapter constructs an imaginary grouping of eighteenth century art forms, for placement at the residence of 1 The word miscegenation is used here as the English counterpart to the Spanish word mestizaje; rather than the pejorative racial connotation it often has in the United States. Both words have their origins in the verb "to mix", and mestizaje has a non-judgmental connotation that describes a process. Cardinal Francisco Antonio Lorenzana. Documentation of the Cardinal's ownership of a caste series is one of those few instances provided by the historical record, and it assists us in examining the artistic context of the works. The chapter then provides descriptions and discussion of the first two images in Cabrera's series. We focus on the cacique woman of Image One in order to highlight and explore representation of the European and Indian cultures that comprised the major dichotomy of New Spain's social organization. 8 GENERAL BACKGROUND Caste paintings are a standardized type of art that generally followed a particular compositional format. That template makes them easily recognizeable. Family groupings and identifying ethnic labels, described above, are the more salient of the paintings' shared characteristics; others include depictions of adults at their trade; encyclopedic displays of period costume; and foregrounds that often include New World fruits and vegetables, also identified by diminutive lettering. These food items are usually aligned with the female side of the frame, as if to remind us of the fertility of the continent. The facial characteristics of the castes are often the same, or similar, throughout a painting series. Changes of costume, background, and skin color are used to differentiate the various ethnicities the paintings attempt to portray. Caste paintings usually portray a very idealized vision of colonial society, especially in the first few images of a series, which usually included Spaniards. Family groups are shown reading, playing musical instruments, or other leisure activities. Scenes of family violence, poverty and social ills make more frequent incursions into the genre, and are usually associated with the lower classes. The caste genre borrows from seventeenth century Mexican portraiture traditions of using the space around the person represented as a vehicle for further information. Consequently, this research places considerable attention on the foregrounds, backgrounds, and objects of display in Cabrera's images and the art of the period.
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