The landscape of Metztitlan, Mexico
Power and control in a sixteenth century Spanish administrative painting
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9744461 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fátima Fernández Christlieb (0000-0002-0500-5658, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, corresponding author), Federico Fernández-Christlieb (Institute of Geography, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 157-183 |
| Publication date | 2020-05-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Cultural Geography (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0887-3631 • E-ISSN: 1940-6320 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/08873631.2020.1734715 |
| OpenAlex | W3009731517 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 31 |
The concept of landscape has been studied mostly as the view of a space with particular interest in its aesthetics, originating at the turn of the sixteenth century. However, I argue that in fourteenth century northern Europe, the concept was focused on polity rather than aesthetics. This article examines this lesser-known tradition by analysing the painting of Metztitlan, a sixteenth century town in Mexico, and arguing, first, that unlike all the other representations in the Relaciones Geográficas to which it belongs, it is the only landscape, and second, that this painting is associated with an administrative procedure common in Spain to gain control over imperial lands. I review European practices regarding the representation of towns under the Spanish Crown. Then, I present the results of the fieldwork carried out to locate several heights which probably served as vantage points to paint the landscape. Based on this research, I analyse the intentions of the painter to argue that it should be considered within the same tradition as the paintings made in Spain by Flemish painter Anton van de Wyngaerde, as part of the Spanish Empire's Germanic tradition of describing places with the intention of exerting control over them
Archaeology · Art · Art history · Empire · Flemish · Landscape painting · Painting · Political science · Politics · Polity · Power (physics · Representation (politics · Historical Art and Culture Studies · History · Law
Secret Science
Paisaje y cartografía en la Nueva España. Análisis de dos mapas que acompañan al corpus de las Relaciones Geográficas (1577-1583)
Recovering the substantive nature of landscape
The Encomienda in New Spain
The Cultural Geography Reader
La visión del mundo agustino en Meztitlán. Ideales y virtudes en tres pinturas murales
Types of Demarcation
Paisaje Y Pintura en Tres Mapas Del Corpus De Las Relaciones Geográficas 1579-1586
Anton van den Wyngaerde y el Palacio de Carlos V en Yuste
Landschaft, pueblo and altepetl
Pinturas , land and lawsuits
The Empire of the Cities
Imperial Archipelago
Recovering the Substantive Nature of Landscape
The Nahuas After the Conquest
Creation of a Mexican landscape. Territorial organization and settlement in the eastern Puebla basin, 1520–1605
The Open-Air Churches of Sixteenth-Century Mexico
The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule
La pintura de la Relación Geográfica de Metztitlán, 1579
The Relaciones Geográficas of the Spanish Indies, 1577-1586
Historia del arte hispanoamericano
El paisaje urbano
Cultural geography
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2025 (4) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |