Eyeing Alameda Park: Topographies of Culture, Class, and Cleanliness in Bourbon Mexico City, 1700 - 1800
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Eyeing Alameda Park: Topographies of Culture, Class, and Cleanliness in Bourbon Mexico City, 1700 - 1800 Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Hamman, Amy Cathleen 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 25/09/2021 11:10:01 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/556702 EYEING ALAMEDA PARK: TOPOGRAPHIES OF CULTURE, CLASS, AND CLEANLINESS IN BOURBON MEXICO CITY, 1700 – 1800 by Amy C. Hamman __________________________ Copyright © Amy C. Hamman 2015 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF ART In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN ART HISTORY AND EDUCATION In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2015 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Amy C. Hamman, titled Eyeing Alameda Park: Topographies of Culture, Class, and Cleanliness in Bourbon Mexico City, 1700 – 1800 and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 22, 2015 Stacie G. Widdifield _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 22, 2015 Emily Umberger ______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 22, 2015 Julie-Anne Plax Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: April 22, 2015 Dissertation Director: Stacie G. Widdifield 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the 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 dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the 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: Amy C. Hamman 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It takes a community to write a dissertation, and this project is proof. I am grateful for the support and encouragement provided by the faculty in the Department of Art History at the University of Arizona. I give profound thanks to committee members Stacie G. Widdifield, Emily Umberger, and Julie-Anne Plax for sharing their brilliant minds and subject expertise. Professor Widdifield chaired this committee and served as my graduate advisor. I am eternally grateful for her tireless support of my research and her steadfast dedication to my academic development; with patience and persistence, she challenged me to become the best researcher, art history scholar, and instructor possible. I am deeply respectful of her professionally and personally. Thank you, as well, to my mentors and colleagues past and present across departments, programs, and schools for their friendship, laughter, and good food and wine served up for many long years. A heartfelt note of thanks goes to Leslie Dupont at the University of Arizona Writing Skills Improvement Program for delivering me from a very difficult stretch of self-doubt; Leslie helped me find my voice, or rather, my inner “Analagator.” I also owe a considerable debt to friend, scholar, and wicked wordsmith, Andrés Fernández Pallares, for his mad language skills, which helped bring life to my Spanish translations. The School of Art, the Graduate College, and the College of Fine Arts Medici Scholars Program all provided monetary support for my research. In particular, thank you to Mrs. Mary Ann Stubbs for her patronage of the Medici Program, which allowed me to conduct research in Mexico and Spain. At the Archivo 5 Histórico del Distrito Federal, thanks go to staff members Blanca Gaytán and Ricardo Méndez Cantarel whose kindness and friendly demeanors made even a dusty day at the archives pleasant and fun. Also, this project assuredly would have faltered without the help of Kimberly Mast at the Visual Resource Center, the staff at the University of Arizona Libraries, and the Interlibrary Loan team. These persons searched high and low to provide me with access to far-flung images and texts. Lastly, this achievement would never have been possible without the pillars of my life: mother Suzette McAfee, partner Joerg Hader, and four-legged partner CIDney 2000. Each were there for every step of this journey, grounding me with warmth, humor, endless pep talks (the kind only a mother can give), Kleenex (“there is no crying in ‘hobby’”), and unleashed enthusiasm for the simple things in life like an afternoon run, ground squirrels, and unexpected treats. No words can ever express the depth of my love, respect, and appreciation… We did it, y’all! 6 DEDICATION To the true and the dogged: SMRCM, Joerg, and CIDney 2000. 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................................ 9 ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ 10 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 11 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter Organization ....................................................................................................................... 24 Spanish Language Usage ................................................................................................................. 27 Notes to Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER ONE: LOCATING VIEWS OF ALAMEDA PARK ......................................................... 31 Problems in the Literature ............................................................................................................. 37 Makers of City Views: Artists and Engineers ......................................................................... 41 Views of Alameda Park .................................................................................................................... 45 Novelties of the Mexican Experience ................................................................................. 46 Emblem and Meaning ............................................................................................................... 49 A Body of Images ................................................................................................................................ 52 Conclusion: Reflections of Park and City ................................................................................. 54 Notes to Chapter One ....................................................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER TWO: FINDING CONTEXT: MEXICO CITY, 1700 – 1800 ..................................... 61 The Physical Environment ............................................................................................................. 66 Spanish Colonial Society ................................................................................................................. 73 Racial Heterogeneity ................................................................................................................. 74 Material Contrasts ...................................................................................................................... 77 Reformism in the Eighteenth Century ...................................................................................... 85 Social Reform in Mexico City ........................................................................................................ 88 Conclusion: The Cultural Landscape of Bourbon Mexico ................................................. 90 Notes to Chapter Two ...................................................................................................................... 92 CHAPTER THREE: VOWS OF PURITY, CONQUEST, AND PATRIARCHY ......................... 101 Founding the Amerindian Convent of Corpus Christi ..................................................... 104 A Picture Fit For the King ............................................................................................................ 109 The Medics in Babylon .................................................................................................................. 114 Spanish Corruption ................................................................................................................. 115 Amerindian Purity ..................................................................................................................