In previous posts on the Ixmiquilpan convento murals we have looked at several of the superb sacristy frescoes, including the unique Noli me Tangere scene, as well as an incomplete Last Judgment in the lower cloister.
In this seasonal post we describe another unique mural in the cloister, that of the Nativity or Adoration of the Shepherds. Mary and Joseph are conventionally posed in the foreground; one well dressed shepherd kneels on the left, while another plays the bagpipe on the right.
In this seasonal post we describe another unique mural in the cloister, that of the Nativity or Adoration of the Shepherds. Mary and Joseph are conventionally posed in the foreground; one well dressed shepherd kneels on the left, while another plays the bagpipe on the right.
The infant Christ gestures from the manger, flanked by a sheep and a fiercely horned bull. Above, the star of Bethlehem appears over a city on the right and a celestial choir of angels rejoices at left.
Like several others at Ixmiquilpan, this mural contains rare or even unique elements, in this case the presence of the bagpiper at the Nativity—found nowhere else in early Mexican mural art, although it is depicted in an 18th century painting by Cristóbal de Villalpando at Cuautinchan.
text © 2017 Richard D. Perry. photography by the author and Niccolò Brooker
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