They would seat this feather on cotton cloth, or on a board, and on that would add little feathers of all colors, which they kept in small individual boxes or vessels, just as they would have taken prepared paints from shells or small saucers with paint brushes. If they wished to make a man’s face, the form of an animal, or some other object which they had decided on and for which a white feather was needed, they selected one from the whites; if a green was required, they took one from the greens; if a red, from the reds; and they attached it very delicately, with a certain paste. Thus for the eyes in the face of a man or animal, requiring black and white and the pupil, they made, and continue to make, the different parts of feathers, with the delicacy of a great painter using a very fine brush – and surely this is a marvel.
And granted that before we Christians entered there they made perfect and wonderful things by this art, such as a tree, a rose, grass, a flower, an animal, a man, a bird, a dainty butterfly, a forest and a stone or rock, so skilfully that the object appeared alive or natural …, yet after the Spaniards went there and they saw our statues and other things, they had, beyond comparison, abundant material and an excellent opportunity to show the liveliness of their intellects, the integrity and disengagement of their powers or interior and exterior senses, and their great talent. For since our statues and altar‐pieces are large and painted in divers colors, they had occasion to branch out, to practice, and to distinguish themselves in that new and delicate art of theirs, seeking to imitate our objects.
One of the great beauties they achieve in what they make – a canopy, cloak, vestment, or anything else especially large – is to place the feather in such a way that seen from one direction it appears gilded, although it lacks gold; from another, it seems iridescent; from another, it has a green luster, without being chiefly green; from another, viewed crossways, it has still another beautiful tint … and similarly from many other angles, all lustrous colors of marvelous attractiveness. Hence it is that one of their craftsmen is accustomed to go without food and drink for a whole day, arranging and removing feathers according to how in his view the hues best harmonize, and so that the work will produce greater diversity of colors and more beauty. He observes it, as I said, from one direction and then from another; one time in sunlight, other times in shade, at night, during the day or when it is almost night, under much or little light, crossways or from the opposite side.
To sum up, out of feathers they have made and still make, every day, statues, altar‐pieces, and many other things of ours; they also interpose bits of gold at suitable places, making the work more beautiful and charming so that the whole world may wonder at it. They have made trimming for chasubles and mantles, covers or silk cases for crosses, for processions and for divine service, and mitres for bishops. And certainly, with no exaggeration, if these had been of gold or silver brocade, three thicknesses on rich crimson, or embroidered richly with gold or silver thread, with rubies, emeralds, and other precious stones, they would not have been more beautiful or more pleasing to look on. […]
Although the featherwork craftsmen are unquestionably excellent and demonstrate their great talent, the silversmiths of New Spain are not unworthy of our admiration for their delicate, outstanding work. They have made, and still make, unusual pieces, of a fineness very different from that of silverwork in any part of our Europe. What makes the pieces more admirable is that the silversmiths form and shape them only by means of fire, and with stone or flint, without any iron tool or anything that can help them produce that nicety and beauty. They made birds, animals, men, idols, vessels of various shapes, arms for war, beads or rosaries, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and many other jewels worn by men and women. […]
A sight which can scarcely be exaggerated is that of the markets of Mexico City.
[…] All the crafts and products there can be, throughout New Spain, are found there. There is no lack of goods to supply the natural needs, nor of things for unusual tastes. Each craft and kind of merchandise has its separate place, which no one else dares disturb or occupy. But the people who come to the markets are so numerous that the squares, even though they are large, lack space for all the merchandise; therefore, goods which cause an obstruction and take up much room, such as stone, brick, adobe or sun‐baked brick, lime, sand, lumber, firewood, charcoal, and other cumbersome things are placed at the entrances of the nearest streets.
All the foodstuffs, raw and cooked, are found there … There are fabrics for cotton blankets and white woolen blankets, coarse pieces of cloth lightly or deeply colored, with rich colors, for shirts, for tablecloths, for handkerchiefs … and for many other things. There is an abundance of clothing and footwear of many kinds.
Various fine colors are sold to those who practice the craft of painting. There are admirable featherwork goods; there are feathers of all colors, not artificially dyed, but natural. […]
There are many jewels set in gold and silver, also pearls and stones like turquoise, and others. However, there are few precious stones, either because there are none naturally in that land or because the Indians do not show them. Montezuma and his lords did possess them, but they were consumed after we hastily entered. There are silk weavers who make and sell many delicate laces and other things of silk. […]
All these products are bought in exchange for others, for the most part by a barter system, according to their valuation of the merchandise. Inequalities between goods exchanged are made up by money consisting of the beans … called cacao. It usually suffices to pay for less valuable goods with cacao.
And with this, we conclude the fourth part of our description of the self‐sufficient republic, provisioned and well governed.
IB5 Toribio de Benavente (‘Motolinía’) (1482–1568) from History of the Indians of New Spain
‘Motolinía’ was the Nahuatl name given to the Franciscan friar Toribio de Benavente. He was involved in the training of native artists in European styles in both painting and metalwork. In the present extract, however, he reports on the destruction of indigenous religious art, mentioning both the appearance of some of the ‘idols’ and some of the religious practices surrounding them. The extract is taken from Motolinía’s History of the Indians of New Spain (1536) as reprinted in Kelly Donahue‐Wallace, Art and Architecture of Viceregal Latin America, 1521–1821, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2008, p. 36.
It was then that the natives soon came and told the friars how the Indians were hiding the idols, how they were placing them at the foot of the crosses or beneath the stones of the altar‐steps, pretending they were venerating the cross, whereas they were actually adoring the demon. In this way they sought to keep their idolatry alive. The idols, of which the Indians had very many, were set up in many places, in the temples of the demons, in the patios, and in conspicuous places, as in groves and on prominent hills and especially on the mountain passes and summits … Those who passed by drew blood from their ears or tongue or offered a little of the incense, called copalli, which is found in this land; others offered roses which they gathered on the road … They had idols of stone, of wood and of terra cotta. They made them also of dough and of seed mixed with dough … some of them looked like bishops with miter and crosier; of these some were gilded and others made of various kinds of turquoise stone. Other idols resembled men; but these had on their head a mortar instead of a miter, and into this they poured wine because it was the god of wine … Others looked like women and were likewise in different forms. Others looked like wild beasts such as lions, tigers, dogs, stags, and whatever animals were found on the mountains and in the field.
Having finished destroying the public idols, the missionaries went after those that were hidden at the foot of the crosses, being in prison, as it were, because the devil could not be near the cross without suffering great torment. All of these were destroyed. […]
IB6