S C HOOL OF S AN J OSE that included shields, tufts, crests, large fans,

DE LOS N ATURALES birds, and "an image ofthe kings. 114 The excellence that Indian artists achieved 1 oj Saint Gr~~ory in the art offeatherwork (amantecayot!) during 153 9 the late pre-Hispanic period grew out ofartisan Feathers on wood with touches of paint centers such as the tlacateo ofTexcoco, where the

261;.. x 22 in. (68 x 56 cm) children ofthe ruler were taught the arts and sci­

Musee d'Auch, France ences;5 the totocalli, Moctezuma's aviary in Tenoch­ titian, which also housed imperial workshops for The earliest Peninsular reference to feather paint­ lapidary, gold- and silversmithing, featherwork, ings occurs in Felipe de Guevara's sixteenth­ and painting; and the calmecac and the telpuchcalli, century Comentarios de la pintura: where priests and warriors studied "all kinds of arts-military, ecclesiastical, mechanical, and We must justl>' concede that the Indians brought astrological. 116 Sadly the "beautiful books ofpaint­ something new and rare to art with bird-feather ings and text" used for teaching these arts7 were painting. Using the diversity ofcolored feathers burned as idolatrous in an excess ofCatholic created by nature, which they industri ously plucked, zeal at the beginning ofthe conquest.s As a result, divided , separated, and mixed , these indigenous art­ Fray Bernardino de Sahagun's descriptions ofthe ists modeled realistic clothing, flesh, and objects. 1 practice ofgold- and silversmithing, lapidary, and Guevara undoubtedly \'.' rites as an eyewitness, featherwork during the early period ofevangeliza­ having had the chance to appreciate. in ship­ tion are invaluable. The didactic methodology and ments from New Spain to Philip's court, manu­ technique ofmanufacture used in the Franciscan scripts, precious stones, silver and gold jewelry, schools ofmechanical arts appear to follow closely and feather paintings, among many other objects those used by the Indians themselves immediately that shovved the Indians' skill as artisans. before the conquest, with the sole innovation of Hernan Cortes also expressed admiration Christian images as models." for these indigenous works in a letter written Colonial featherwork reached its pinnacle to Charles V from Mexico in I5 20: duri ng the sixteenth-century process of evangeli­ zation, especially in the Valley ofMex ico, Michoa­ [Moctezuma has] all the things to be found under can, and perhaps Tlaxcala. Religious chroniclers the heavens in [his] dom ain, fas hioned in gold and like Fray Ba(tolome de Las Casas have left us de­ silver and jewels and feathers ; and so realistic in tailed information about the importance ofthis gold and sil ver that no smith in the world could art Las Casas praises the feather artists (a manteca) have done better, and in jewels so fine that it is who worked in the school ofSan Jose de los impossible to imagine with what instruments they Naturales-founded about 1527 by the Flemish were cut so perfectly; and those in feathers more Franciscan lay brother Pedro de Game on the wo nderful than an ythi ng in wax or embroidery. 2 exact site where Moctezuma's aviary and imperial Two years later Cortes had a magni ficent tteasure workshops had stood-but he reserves his high­ shipped to Spain in which gold and pre-His panic est praise for the feather artists ofMichoadn: featherwork formed the bulk of consignments Every day they make images and and destined for churches, monasteries, and civil many other things for us out offeathers, interjecting and ecclesiastical dignitaries, as well as for the gold elements here and there that make the piece emperor h.imseLf.3 In 1524, moreover, Diego showier, more precious, and universally admired. de Soto carried home three chests offeatherwork

1 I MA~~ ()I' ~ArNT GREr.ORY c)'1 And with no prodding on our part, [hey make bor­ constant feather supply so overwhelmed the Span­ ders for chasubles and capes, and veils and sleeves ish captain Bernal Dlaz del Castillo that he felt ofcrosses for religious processions and services, as forced to abstain from enumerating every kind of well as miters for bishops that . .. could not be more bird that was there and its peculiarity, for there beautiful nor agreeable to the sight. The arti sts of was everything from the Roya l Eagle . .. down to [his kind who outstrip all others in New Spain are tiny bi rds ofmany-colored plumage. [In addition in the province of Mech uaca.n .10 to others I have mentioned] there were parrots of Las Casas praises the skill of the amanteca in many different colors and there were so many of placing a feather so that, them that I forget their names , not to mention the beautifully marked ducks. 13 looked at from one angle, it will seem golden while DP lacking gold; from another angle, it will have a green sheen without being green; looked at crosswise, it will display another lovely color; and the same from

many other angles, all shimmering marvelom:l;' 11 One of the earliest documented examples of featherworkwith Christian is the Since its iridescences seemed to correspond standard ofthe Virgin Mary that the Indians of to the transfi guration of divine light, feather Huejotzingo financed and produced in 1531 to painting became a favorite medium for all kinds honor Nuno de Guzman and his conquest ofNew ofliturgical garments and devotional images Galicia. The piece is reproduced in the Harkness during the sixteenth century. The rich feathers Codex, which records t.he superhuman cost in gold, were ofa great variety, many coming from far­ slaves, feathers, and handiwork that the produc­ away lands through trade routes, From Guatemala tion ofsuch an object implied.14 Unfortunately, came quetzal feathers; from hot climates, those the standard's whereabouts today is unknown. ofhummingbirds, parrots, and other rare birds. The oldest known surviving piece ofcolonial Some birds were raised domestically in order to featherwork is this Mass ofSaint Gregory. pluck and sell their feathers. The importance ofthe Mass ofSaint Gregory EI EG for the history ofevangelical art lies not only in its technical and artistic excellence, state ofpres­ ervation, and size, but also in its unique role as According to Sahagun'S Historia, there were two a document: it is the only feather painting that techniques used in pre-Hispanic featherwork. records precise information about the time and For feather clothing, headdresses, and fans, the place ofits production and the names ofits recipi­ feathers were sewn or tied with maguey thread ent, patron, and donor, as well as those who may in an overlapping pattern onto net fabric or cane have been responsible for the composition and frameworks. For feather mosaic pictures or shields, for approving its propriety or decorum. All of patterns were drawn on maguey-Ieafor fig-tree this is registered in the dedicatory legend ofthe paper reinforced with carded cotton and glue. Then border: "Paulo III pontifici maxima / en magna this backing was covered with a bed oftrimmed indiaru[m] urbe Mexico / co[m]posita d[omi]no and glue-basted feathers. Over this bed, precious Didaco guberna /tore cura fr[atr] is Petri a Gante feathers, cut to size with copper or obsidian blades, minoritae A.D. 1539" (Fashioned for Paul III were applied with bone tools. Fine lines were in the great city ofMexico ofthe Indies by the created by overlapping the layers so closely that governor Don Diego under the care ofFray Pedro some colors almost disappeared, and the contrast de Gante ofthe Minorites, A.D. 1539) .15 between iridescent and matte feathers was manip­ The governor mentioned here is, without a ulated to create various effects. doubt, Diego de Alvarado Huanitzin, nephew and Among the feathers used were those ofthe son-in-law ofMoctezuma II. After being deposed quetzal, hummingbird, parrot, heron, spoonbill, as lord ofEcatepec by Hernan Cortes, he was troupial, and blue cotinga. 12 The variety ofbirds appointed Indian governor (tlatoani) ofSan Juan bred in Moctezuma's royal aviary to provide a Tenochtitlan from 1539 to 1542 by Antonio de

96 SC HOOL OF S AN JOSE D E LOS NATU RALES I 1 Mendoza, the first viceroy. "" The fa ct that Alvarado produced at the end ofthe fifteenth century by Huanitzin dedicated the featherwork to Pope the prolific engraver Israhel van Meckenem (see, Paul III in the name ofhis people clearly demon­ for example, fig. 56).23 The feather painting, how­ strates the prevailing custom among indigenous ever, simplifies the composition by eli minating lords ofsending gifts offealty to both the reign­ the elaborate architectural background and altar­ ing pope and the emperor. piece, as well as the onlookers beside the alta r. Depictions ofthe Mass ofSaint Gregory de­ Obviously, we cannot say with certainty that the rive from what appears to be a fifteenth-century Meckenem engravings served as the precise source legend promoting beliefin Christ' s actual pres­ since copies or derivative versions, perhaps Span­ ence in the host ofthe . 17 The story ish, may have been used instead. goes that the sixth-century saint and some dea­ The reverse side ofthe board that supports the cons, one ofthem a doubter, witnessed Christ's feather painting is covered in polychrome lacquer­ bodily presence on the altar at the moment of ware, a craft technique practiced in Michoadn the host's consecration. The image ofthe risen before and after the conquest. The background Christ as the Man ofSorrows surrounded by is a bright red ocher and displays at its center the instruments ofthe Passion () may monogram XPS associated with devotion to the have been conftated with representations ofthe Holy Name oEJesus, which was revitalized by the Mass ofSaint Gregory because it had been in Minorite friar Saint Bernardine ofSiena (1380­ use as a visual means ofexplaining the mystery 1444) and widely diffused in New Spain by both ofthe Eucharist to the faithful since the early Fra nciscans and Augustinians. thirteenth century, when the dogma oftransub­ The Flemish Minorite Franciscan Fray Pedro stantiation was promulgated by the Fourth de Gante, whose name appears in the inscrip­

Lateran Council. IS tion ofthe feadler painting, was the founder and Toward the end ofthe fifteenth and the begin­ guiding spirit ofSan Jose de los Naturales, an ning ofthe sixteenth centuries, the devotion of artisan school for natives attached to the Francis­ the Mass ofSaint Gregory became firmly rooted can motherhouse in Mexico City. As such, he was in Spain: altarscreens with paintings and reliefs in charge ofsupervising and inspecting religious ofthe theme proliferated, even in churches dedi­ works executed by the natives of the area, and his cated to other devotions. Extraordinary examples special religious devotions seem to be reflected arrived from Flanders, 19 and local artis ts such as in the iconography ofboth the Mass ofSaint Gre.gory Francisco de Coca and Pedro Berruguete received and the monogram ofthe Holy Name ofJesus. commissions to paint the theme. Furthermore, Gante founded the brotherhood ofthe Holy Sacra­ the impact offoreign engravings ofthe subject ment and may also have founded the brotherhood that arrived in Spain in great numbers via the ofthe Holy Name of]esus since his cell was one fair ofMedina del Cam po and other channels is ofthose expressly dedicated to meditations on apparent in compositions such as the Mass of Saint the Holy Name ofJesll s. 24 Gre.gory in the Confessional ofAlonso de Madrigal The inscribed date ofIS39-the earl iest for (Salamanca, 1598), 20 which shows strong simi­ an exi sting feathelWork--coincides with the larities to an engraving of1480-90 by IsraheI van year the news arrived in Mexico ofthe papal Meckenem (c. 1445-1503).21 It is thus not surpris­ bull promulgated by Paul III proscribing the ing that in the New World the religious orders enslavement ofIndians and defending their charged with evangelizing the Indians fervently full rationality and consequent lawful access espoused devotion to the Eucharist and promoted to the sacraments- including the Eucharist. its dlffusion through European engravings of The sacramental symbolism contained in both the Mass ofSaillt Gregory bearing papal indul­ the theme of the Mass of Saint Gregory and the gences. These prints inspired both feather paint­ monogram that dominates the back ofthe work ings and murals. 22 makes this an especially apt object to dedicate Among the great variety ofengravings of the to the pope-even more so in light ofilie view Mass ofSa int Gregory, those that come closest to held by Fray Bartolome de Las Casas and other the feather painting that concerns us here were missionaries that the art offeather painting

1 I MASS OF SAINT GREGORY 97 (amantecayotl) was evidence ofthe rationality of as dependent on their humanness. Aristotle dis­ the Indian: tinguished between two ty pes ofenslavement: through capture and through being born "slaves What without a doubt seems to exceed all human by nature," constitutionally incapable offully inve ntive ness and will impress all other nations of human powers ofreasoning. the world as more new than strange and therefore The outcome oEthis debate over the true nature to be admired and es teemed is the art and craft that of Amerindians had obvious economic im plica­ those Mexican peoples know how to work so per­ tions: ifthey were not fully rational creatures, tbey fectly, making from natural feathers with their were legitimately subject to enslavement, conve­ own natural colors all that which they and other niently provid ing the Hapsburg emperor and the c :cellent and first-rate painters can produce with Spanish crown with an ample labor force to extract paintbrushes.25 silver and gold from Mexican and Peruvian mines. EI EG To speed the decision along, the Royal Council ofthe Indies encouraged Juan Gines de Sepulveda, translator ofa highly respected edition of The As the ranking native government official in the Politics, the text in which Aristotle's crucial discus­ Republic ofIndians, Diego de Alvarado Huanitzin sion ofslavery appears, to justifY war against the offered an extraordinary gift to Paul III, the pope Amerindians, although they ultimately rejected who had recently published a series ofdeclarations his argument. Alternatively, ifAmerindians were protecting the rights ofAmerindians. Only two merely immature humans, like children-as years earlier, on 9 June 1537, Pope Paul III issued was argued in their behalf-they possessed the the bull Sublimis Deus, news ofwhich reached capacity for fully rational thought and only needed Mexico in 1539. This papal decree against enslav­ proper guidance. The initial step in this educa­ ing the Amerindians and seizing their property tional process, as Saint Augustine had maintained, pronounced "Indians and all other people who was their acceptance ofthe Christian doctrine of may later be discovered by Christians" to be en­ salvation-in other words, baptism.28 dowed with the "nature and faculties" necessary Paul III addressed these complicated issues to receive the Christian faith solely by "preaching in no uncertain terms: in the 1537 bull, he sided ofthe word ofGod and by the example ofgood with the Dominican Julian Garces, bishop of and holy living." With this decree, the pope Tlaxcala; the Franciscan Juan de Zumarraga, strengthened Emperor Charles V's recent order bishop ofMexico; and other missionarics like (probably the one dated 2 August 1530) byadd­ Dominicans Bernardino de Minaya and Bartolome ing the penalty ofexcommunication for those de Las Casas, all ofwhom defended the Amer­ who violated imperiallaw.26 Some jurists today indians' capacity to be converted by teaching consider the pope's unprecedented position on rather than conquered by force.29 This contest human rights to be the true foundation ofinter­ for Amerindian souls culminated in a famous

national law. 27 inconclusive debate between Sepulveda and Las The papal bull was issued in direct response Casas, held in Valladolid, Spain, in 1550-51. The to an escalating contest over human and material Mass ofSaint Gregory feather mosaic, however, resources in the Americas. It is within this politi­ was made eleven years earlier, immediately after cized, ideologically freighted frame ofreference Paul Ill's decree reached New Spain, when an that the significance ofthis particular Mass of assimilated, Christianized government official Saint Gregory must be sought. The Holy Roman ofnoble Aztec descent like Diego de Alvarado Emperor and the Roman Catholic Church did might have felt optimistic about the future and not always act in concert as the Sublimis Deus deeply grateful to a pope who recognized the might suggest. A central issue in what amounted intelligence ofthe Amerindian peoples. to a complex power struggle was whether Amer­ The iconography ofdepictions ofthe Mass indians had the ability to maintain dominion ofSaint Gregory includes both a Man ofSorrows over their own property, a topic much discussed and the Arms ofChrist, associated with the cult by theologians and jurists in Aristotelian terms ofthe Passion, a favorite devotion ofthe earliest

98 SCHOOL OF SAN JOSE DE LOS NATURALES [I Franciscans in Mexico and a motifthat can be associated with a utopian concept ofthe uni­ versal Christian church. 30 The imagery on this featherwork painting was pro bably derived from a European print similar, or perhaps identical, to an engraving by Israhel van Meckenem of about 1490-1500 (fig. 56), one often versions ofthe subject by the same artist.31 A Latin inscrip­ tion below the image in the Eu ropean engravi ng indicates that the sheet was intended as an indul­ gence granted to whoever recited the requisite prayers to the instruments of Christ's Passion. In this connection, it is importa nt to remem­ ber that Saint Gregory the Great, a sixtb-century pope and one of the fo ur Latin Church Fathers, defended the religious use of images because they function as a "B ible for the illiterate. "" As such, images could dramatically illustrate abstract reli­ gious concepts like the doctrine oftransubstan­ tiation inherent in the mass. There are significant di fferences, however, between an inexpensive broadsheet is su ed to pilgrims and a unique gift of state crafted in precious, exotic materials and intended for the chief representative ofChrist on earth. Given the timing of the gift, the choice ofsubject suggests that Pope Paul III was to be praised as a latter-day Saint Gregory, no doubt for his strong defense of the Indians' fully human capacities. Viewed in this context, tbe featherwork painting is a magnani mous gesture, eloquently rendered in a medium well established in pre­ Fig. 56. ISRAHEL VAN MECKENEM, Ma ss ofSaint Gregory, Columbian times as a form of tribute that both the Amerindians and their European conq uerors con­ c. '490-'500, engraving. National Gallery ofArt, Washing· ton, D.C., Rosenwald Collection, '954.12.C)1. (8-21489). sidered the most elevated form ofindigenous art. H On close inspection, the featberwork diverges from its print prototype in several respects. The whose ascetic lifestyle figured prominently in the most striking difference is tbe elimination of rep­ program ofevangelization. During the first few resentatives of the secular cburch who stand beside decades ofspiritual conquest by tbe regular clergy, tl1e altar in the print and supposedly include Saints in imitation ofthe original apostolic era ofthe Jerome, Am brose, and Augustine, Gregory's fe llow "primitive church," a mission sys tem without Doctors ofthe Church. In the feather mosaic, only accountability to the secular church hierarchy the kn eeling assistants and the officiating pope had been establis hed. However, tension between witness the miracle. Itis possible to read the elim­ the regular and secular clergy over the right ination ofcardinals and bishops from the mosaic to claim Amerindian souls soon developed, as supervised by the Franciscan missionaty Pedro attested, among other things, by a letter written de Gante as a reference to escalating disputes in 153 7 to Charles V at a meeting of the New between the regular and secul ar clergy. especially Spanish provincial bishops (who were appointed since the pope and his . as pictured by from the regular clergy at this time) to review

Meckenem, coul d also be understood as tonsured the problems ofevangelization.34 Two years later, Franciscan friars, members ofthe regular cl ergy in r539, the date ofthis painting, the fi rs t in a

1 I MAI:l: np "4 rNT r.IIFr.nIlV ClCl series ofgeneral assemblies was called to resolve The Franciscans in particular were so inter­ diffi cul ties and disagreements over the adminis­ ested in lndian hieroglyphics that they invented a tration of baptism and marriage. hieroglyphic system based on preconquest rebus ­ Although it is tempting to think the fe ather style script in the belief that Amerindians would painting refers to these contemporary events, be more receptive to Christian catechism commu­ this conclusion is impossible to substantiate in nicated in pictures and symbols. 38 The Arms of the absence of external evidence. Nonethel ess, Christ are visual signs ofthe sort that missionaries subtle though the changes in subject matter are, wid ely understood as a pictorial language compa­ given the historical circumstances just descri bed, rable to Nahuatl pictograms. This fact in itselfis th ey are sufficient to render sixteenth-century perhaps less significant in the present context than understanding ofthe iconography to a certain the method oflearning involved. In the fea ther degree irresolvable and open-ended-like many mosaic, the central Christian doctrine oftransub­ artistically and culturally hybrid works ofcolonial stantiation is conveyed by the naturalistic depic­ art. This feather mosaic is the earliest example. tion ofChrist as the Man ofSorrows rising from There is no doubt, however, that Fray Pedro the open sepulcher behind the altar where Holy de Gante established innovative meth ods for Communion is about to be performed. The church teaching Christian doctrine to his Amerindian would have considered the depiction ofChrist uni­ neophytes at San Jose de los Naturales, the arti­ versally accessible because ofits naturalistic style san school for natives attached to the Franciscan ofrepresentation. Grouped around this Eucharis­ monastery in Mexico City.35 As noted, the Arms tic image, prominently displayed against a ground ofChrist were a popular devotion among the of bright blue feathers, are the rebuslike signs first Franciscan missionaries, though the iconog­ ofthe Passion known as the Arms ofChrist. In raphy is by no means unique to the order. Gante the European tradition, these signs are actually and other missionaries used visual images exten­ mnemonic devices intended to initiate a series of sively during the early years ofthe conquest when associations in the mind ofthe beholder. Whether language was an extreme barrier to communica­ it be the coins ofJudas that signifY his treason, tion, as we know from numerous sources including the crowing cock that signifies Peter's betrayal, the the important pedagogical text Rhetorica Christiana instruments ofthe Passion that allude to the cru­ (Perugia, Italy, 1579) written and illustrated by cifixion and to major points ofChristian doctrine Gante's pupil Diego Va lades, a Franciscan friar simultaneously (for example, the three nails born and raised in Mexico. 36 From his testimony, remind the beholder ofthe Trinity), each sign and from other material evidence such as atrial serves as an object ofsustained contemplation. crosses like the one that stood in the forecourt of Just as a person learned in Latin might ruminate the Capilla de los Indios ofthe Basllica de Guada­ over the many senses ofscripture, attaching in lupe in Mexico City, we know that rebus like signs, turn literal, tropological, and anagogical signifi­ specifically the Arms ofChrist, were used to teach cance to the same words, so the visual represen­ the catechis m. 37 In his book, Valades provided tation ofSaint Gregory's Mass was intended to engraved illustrations ofcatechism classes being enable an illiterate audience to contemplate the taught in the open-air atrium ofthe Franciscan richness ofChristian doctrine by visual means. motherchurch at San Jose using similar visual In the Mexican feather mosaic, alongside signs. He also introduced a sort of pictographic conventional signs like the cock, nai ls , sponge, syllabary of his own involving signs in the shape hammer, column, and flagellum, are some ofsacred hearts, a symbol with connotations on innovations. To Christ's right, behind the open both sides ofthe cultural and linguistic divide. sepulcher, is a delicately shaped tree, or perhaps Some ofVa lades's heart signs include recogniz­ a small plant, missing in the print source. On able elements from Nahuatl pictograms. Although the front ledge ofthe sepulcher, rest two promi­ their exact meaning has never been deciphered, nent objects with dark green leaves, perhaps the mann'e r in which they function in his text pineapples or possibly flowers, but apparently makes the important point that they are a cultur­ an offering. Perhaps this addition is an intention­ ally hybrid means ofcommunication. ally bicultural motif, since offerings offruit and

100 SCHOOL OF SAN JOSE DE LOS NATURALES I 1 flo wers were formerly associated with sacrifice in Christian faith by contemplating the mnemonic pre-Columbian ceremonies and not out ofplace signs that refer to them. Mnemonic signs initi­ in Christian settings either. The most striking ate the inferential process ofrecollection that is addition to the conventional Christian iconogra­ uniquely human, according to Aristotle and his phy, however, is a feature that might have origi­ commentators from Cicero to Saint Augustine nated in a misunderstanding ofthe print source: to Thomas Aquinas and Albertus Magnus. The whereas Christ's head is bent in humble submis­ crucial task ofrecollection is retrieval: a memory sion in Meckenem's engraving, his neck cast image, wrote Aristotle in De memoria (45obrr-2o), in deep shadow, in the Mexican reinterpretation is like an imprint or drawing, causing us to re­ the shadow is red. Is blood flowing from the member what is not present; a memory drawing, crown ofthorns or gus bing from a neck wound? like a painted panel, is an object ofcontempla­ Again, the imagery is unorthodox by European tion, a sort ofcopy and a reminder, like a cue card. standards, but its significance is difficult to assess. Thomas Aquinas described memory as the faculty In the European prototype imagery, moreover, responsible for the conversion ofimages into blood from the wound in Christ's side flows into abstractions or universals and reserved the term the on the altar table in some examples. recollection to describe a kind ofhuman reason­

This detail illustrating the central Eucharistic ing, a "quasi-syllogistic search. "41 In his account doctrine oftransubstantiation is missing in the ofthe human arts in De quantitate animae, Saint amantecayotL Augustine defined the third degree ofthe human There too, the conventional setting in a church soul as memoria, requiring anima adversio (atten­ interior has been eliminated in favor ofan undif­ tion), proper to man and distinct from the sense ferentiated blue background. Isolating each sign memory ofanimals.42 against a brilliantly colored ground makes it easier In the fifteenth century, Saint Antoine, the to remember the images, as European treatises Dominican archbishop ofFlorence whose Summa devoted to memory training recommend and as Theologica was among the earliest books recorded other visual examples ofthe same motifs, such in New Spain, urged his readers to learn the art of as Fra Angelico's mid-fifteenth-century frescoes projecting sacred concepts into memory figures. in the cells ofSan Marco monastery in Florence In describing and illustrating the basic tenets of attest. 39 Yet the choice ofcolor might also be inter­ medicv.)l faculty psychology, Valades focused on preted as serving a narrative function by indicating the role played by the art ofmemory in teaching an outdoor setting for this particular Gregorian sacred doctrine to neophytes at San Jose de los Mass-the priest and his assistants appear to Naturales, where images were placed in strategic be kneeling on the bare ground-an especially locations along liturgical procession routes. 43 inviting hypothesis because outdoor services were Neo-Aristotelian distinctions about various mental held in open-sided chapels in sixteenth-century operations were further institutionalized in early Mexico. modern European classifications ofthe human Considered in conjunction, these changes in sciences, and the arts played a particularly signifi­ subject matter prompt speculations about the cant role in this context. The mental capacity to artist's motive. Intentionality eludes modern in­ recollect, that is, to draw a series of infe rences, terpreters, however: the transformations may as Aristotle and his commentators defined the be meaningful, or they may be no more than mis­ distinction between the human faculty ofmemory understandings on the part ofindigenous artists, and the retentive memory ofanimals, was both although it is likely that Gante himselfapproved directly cited and indirectly implied throughout the innovations. None of the alterations discussed sixteenth-century discussions of the Amerindians here may therefore have been considered to inter­ mental capacities. The same texts and arguments fere wi th or subvert the orthodox doctrinal content later played a key, and more pernicious, role in ofthe image.4o racial theory. The mnemonic devices, moreover, attest to The significance ofthis language ofsigns in the mental capacity oftheir users to "recollect," a gift destined for Pope Paul III is clarified by the that is, to remember the central mysteries ofthe his torical context ofthe pontiff's Sublimis Deus

1 I MASS OF SAINT GREGORY 101 issued some ten years after the opening ofSan Jose de los Naturales. In 1539, Paul III would have been ideally well disposed to understand what was implied by the choice ofboth the subject and the artistic medium. Indeed, for any beholder attuned to the debate, this Mass of Saint Gregory testifies JUAN BAUTISTA AND/OR JUAN CUIRIS to the truly human nature ofAmerindians in terms that predate the debate ofVa lla do lid by at least 2 Jesus at the Age of Twelve a decade. It is perhaps not an overstatement to Weepillg Virgin claim that, by I539, the terms on which the Ind i­ ans' mental capacities were judged were parr of 1590- ,600 an international, transcultural discourse in which Inscribed respectively loan . Bapt. me Fecit. Michuac[anj the cul turally dispossessed also participated- and luanes Cuiris Fe cit Michuac[anj at least to the li mited extent ofa few assimilated Feathers on copper

members ofthe Amerindian eUte. Ironicall y, th is 10 x 71> in . (25 .4 x ,8.2 em) eaeh erudite gift offered as evidence ofhis own human­ I

102 J U AN BAUTISTA AND/OR JU AN CUIRIS I 2