In her new book, Alessia Frassani examines the art and politics surrounding the building of the Dominican convent in the Mixtec town of Yanhuitlan from 1500 to the present day. Her case study of the corporate sponsorship, individual patronage, and religious celebrations, then and now, of the convent of Yanhuitlan challenge the supposed absence, according to art historical literature, of indigenous presence in colonial art. The book is organized into seven chapters. Chapters 1 through 6 focus on the colonial period, from Spanish conquests in the Mixteca Alta to the full incorporation of the cabildo and República de Indios into Mixtec society by the late colonial era. Chapter 7 describes contemporary religious celebrations. There are also two appendices, with transcriptions of sources and an outline of the dynastic succession of Yanhuitlan's yya (indigenous leader, or cacique), and a section of beautifully colored plates, including pictures of the murals, altars, and retablos found inside the convent, as well as images of religious rituals performed in Yanhuitlan today as part of the Easter holy days.
Frassani begins her study by working with the surviving sections of Codex Yanhuitlan and the 1544-47 Inquisition trial of Mixtec caciques for idolatry to reconstruct the sociopolitical climate of Yanhuitlan in the early sixteenth century. Chapters 2 and 3, the most important of the book, examine civil and criminal suits and payment records to establish convincingly the presence and work of the Spanish artists Andrés de Concha and Francisco Becerra. Concha and Becerra moved within similar patronage networks in colonial Mexico, evident in architectural patterns in central Mexico and Oaxaca and proving that sixteenth-century artistic production cannot be reduced to urban-rural dichotomies nor divided along ethnic lines. Artistic patronage could come from Spanish encomenderos, the Dominicans, or the Mixtec yya. Frassani's work further underscores the significance of construction and artistic sponsorship by native elites, Spanish colonizers, and Dominican friars in her examination of the connection between religious texts, doctrinas (doctrinal manuals), cartillas (doctrinal booklets), and confessionals in particular, and the religious art on the walls and altars of the convent of Yanhuitlan.
In New Spain, doctrinas were produced in the sixteenth century, typically as bilingual manuals in Spanish (castellano) and a native tongue, to help clergy instruct natives in the new religion. In the Mixteca, doctrinas were also monolingual, written in Mixtec, such as the Doctrina Cristiana en lengua mixteca by fray Benito Hernández. Such instructional manuals were not unique to New Spain, but their extensive use of illustrations, especially in the Mixteca, sets them apart from their Spanish counterparts. According to Frassani, it is these illustrations, such as the Scala Coeli (stairway to heaven), that elevated the status of the priest as teacher and interpreter of images while encouraging pupils, predominantly native elites, to ponder the textual lessons. As religious doctrinal texts comprised of short chapters, the brevity of cartillas, such as De Contemptu Mundi (contempt of the world), also encouraged the educated native reader to “spend little time in the act of reading itself and more on pondering it.” After all, too much knowledge was considered “detrimental to true faith.”
The illustrations of doctrinas and the brevity of their passages facilitated native pupils’ contemplation of textual passages while also helping them memorize, especially with the help of images, a large amount of information, and prayers. The mnemotechnic of doctrinal books that encouraged meditation and allowed for memorization of religious text was reflected in the artistic decoration of the convent walls, altars, and retablos. Such artistic pieces, one of Spain's most original contributions to Western art, also functioned to engage native parishioners in a visual representation of religious text. Frassani's work with Mixtec testaments and inventories also adds to our understanding of the devotional practices among the Mixtec of Yanhuitlan.
The final chapters of the book cover the leadership of don Gabriel de Guzmán. Frassani examined the eighteenth-century legal suit against the cabildo of Yanhuitlan, which documented and detailed the rulership of the Guzmán family in Yanhuitlan “since ancient times.” Frassani highlights how native elites based their rulership on both a pre-Hispanic legacy and their moral connection and patronage of the building of the convent at Yanhuitlan.
Overall, this book would be a welcome addition to an undergraduate course on religion, indigenous leadership, and/or art in colonial Mexico. Frassani's work clearly highlights connections between early modern European and New Spanish art and architecture and convincingly argues for unique artistic developments in New Spain. Her discussion of the visual text, in doctrinal illustrations and conventual decorations, truly underscores the roles played by local elites—native leaders, Spanish encomenderos, and Dominicans—in developing and negotiating Spanish political and religious rule. Although this work cannot address how successful the visual/mnemotechnic approach was in conversion and devotional practices among commoner natives in colonial Yanhuitlan—for it is really a work on the agency of elite natives—it does demonstrate that today's religious celebrations at the parish of Yanhuitlan function as they did in the colonial era: to underscore a contemporary community identity of shared values and ceremonies.
