SPANISH COLONIAL MEXICO

During that time, indigenous artists in these areas were trained--and sometimes re-trained--by missionary priests and artists from Europe to perfect a European style of painting, based on prints and paintings that were imported to Mexico from Spain, Italy, and Northern Europe.

What developed was a style distinctly "Mexican"--earthy, quite accomplished, and distinct from European art--that bore the strong imprint of European compositions and styles. Great altarpieces, portraits, and sculptures were produced in programs to decorate churches, monasteries, civic buildings, and for ephemeral public festivals. For the duration of Spanish rule, much of this production was accomplished with the supervision and tutelage of church officials and Spanish-born artists. Mexican painters, however, made great careers for themselves, whether native born, mestizo (mixed-race), or criollo (Mexican-born of Spanish parents).

The styles that we characterize in European art as "Renaissance," "Mannerist," "Baroque," and "Rococo" took on a life, and a life span, of their own in New Spain. In the power centers of artistic production, like Mexico City, Puebla, Querétaro, and Zacatecas, the art was very cosmopolitan.