Unknown artist, Genealogy of the Family Mendosa-Moctezuma, 1856-57. Watercolor on paper; 17 × 12⅜ in. Bequest of Robert J. Stroessner, 1992.68.

sheet height: 17 in, 43.1800 cm; sheet width: 12.375 in, 31.4325 cm; mat height: 24 in, 60.96 cm; mat width: 20 in, 50.8 cm; image height: 16 7/8 in, 42.8625 cm; image width: 12 3/8 in, 31.4325 cm

Mayer Center, Latin American Art

Latin American Art

Created to validate traditional land holdings, this book page illustrates a Mexican family’s Indigenous noble heritage beginning with the famous Aztec ruler Moctezuma (upper left-hand side) and ending with a colonial member of the Mendoza/Moctezuma family (lower left-hand side). Objects floating around their heads are probably associated with their names and ranks, in the tradition of Aztec illuminated manuscripts.
     The earlier rulers wear traditional Indigenous garments of loincloth, luxurious capes, magnificent bustles with long quetzal feathers, sandals, gold leg bands, noble headdresses (copilli), and necklaces made of precious stones (probably jade and coral). The colonial descendant wears seventeenth-century European garments: puffed breeches, doublet with lace-trimmed collar, cape, and flat-brimmed hat.
-- Donna Pierce & Patricia Tomlinson, 2015
 

Bequest of Robert Stroessner 11 March 1992 to the Denver Art Museum. Provenance research is on-going at the Denver Art Museum. Please e-mail provenance@denverartmuseum.org, if you have questions, or if you have additional information to share with us.