Mexican Monasteries and Processions. The Transmission of Ideas, Space, and Time between the New and the Old World
Abstract
The subject of this contribution presents Mexican monastic architecture built during the 16th century by the regular clergy (namely Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians) and the Spanish Crown with the aim to christianise and colonize native people of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Particularly, it examines the practice of making processions within the monastic architecture both in the inner or outer space and related ideas.
This practice stems from both Western and Mesoamerican traditions , which over time mingled in the set of syncretic habits and rituals that served to native people to set up profound relations with space and time. This practice was recorded both in the monastic art (mural paintings) and in written sources (chronicles and rules).
As regards the method, this contribution works with classical historical and art historical methods and anthropological concepts. Hence, its approach is interdisciplinary and it combines diachronic and synchronous perspectives which enable the interpretation and contextualisation of the phenomena.