Ixmiquilpan. The Church Murals 1: Eagles and Jaguars

Our previous posts on the Ixmiquilpan murals were focused on those of the convento, notably the superb sacristy frescoes, including the unique Noli me Tangere scene, as well as an incomplete Last Judgment in the lower cloister.
   In this post, the first of two, we look at the famous and unique church murals, which have been the subject of much interest and speculation since their uncovering in the 1950s. *
   For the native peoples of Mexico, the eagle and the jaguar symbolized opposing forces in a multi-faceted cosmic conflict: between the celestial and the terrestrial, light and darkness, life and death, good and evil. 
   This ancient psychodrama, as enacted by the military orders of the Eagle and the Jaguar, was integral to the Aztec cosmology and, after the Conquest, was often appropriated by the evangelizing friars to dramatize related themes in Christian doctrine. Usually confined to colorful theatrical presentations, staged outdoors on festive occasions, such themes rarely found their way into the permanent arts of the church or convento.

   One notable exception is the spectacular church murals at the great Augustinian priory of San Miguel Ixmiquilpan, especially the unique Battle frescoes that surround the nave.
   Our focus in this post is on one critical group of the murals, those located beneath the choir, which, together with two facade reliefs and a panel in the apse, may provide an introduction and key to the main Battle friezes. 

The rose and lavender west front of San Miguel Ixmiquilpan, distinguished by its triumphal arch, is a classic statement of architectural elegance in the Augustinian Renaissance tradition. 

   However, the escutcheons (escudos) that project on either side of the choir window sound a quite different note. Apart from the European heraldic framing, their imagery is entirely prehispanic, without reference to Spanish or Christian symbols, and thus foreshadowing the extraordinary murals inside the church. 

 

The relief to the left (north) of the choir window shows an eagle perched on a cactus sprouting from a rock above flowing water, the traditional glyph of ancient Tenochtitlan, adopted by the Aztecs as their imperial symbol and now the emblem of modern Mexico. 

   Significantly, the eagle is costumed as a warrior with a plumed headdress (copilli) unfurling his war banner (pantli) or spear. Eroded jaguar figures, also with war bonnets, crouch to either side carrying native war shields (chimalli). Speech scrolls suggest that a conversation seems to be taking place.

 

The related relief on the right (south) shows what appear to be hybrid eagle and jaguar figures on either side of a stylized pathway with footprints, again with water flowing beneath. Both wear plumed crests and carry chimalli, and again, comma-like speech scrolls curl from their mouths, indicating a dialogue.

The Narthex Murals
Inside the church, these facade "dialogues" continue in the large, curving lunette murals that extend up to the vaults beneath the choir, where two facing frescoes create dynamic tableaux in bright colors—red, blue, black, orange and yellow. 
   These two frescoes introduce the battle themes that are enacted in the outsize friezes that stretch along the nave on both sides to the apse at the east end of the church.

The more complete south side mural amplifies the themes of the right hand facade relief. Here an eagle with spread wings is flanked by two jaguars sitting on rocks or stylized mountains, who roar "flower-song" speech scrolls in his direction. The jaguar on the right wears a war headdress and carries a bow and arrow.

The codex-style footpath reappears below, this time set across a conventionalized "water mountain"—a place glyph that may reference Ixmiquilpan, or possibly even Aztec Tenochtitlan itself.

The partially erased lunette mural on the north wall echoes the left hand escudo of the facade: here, the eagle, wings outstretched, again perches on a now largely erased place glyph. Speech or arrow scrolls issue from his beak towards the two now faceless jaguars with plumed headdresses standing to either side, along with prominent candelabra cactus. The battle unfolds beneath.

The Apsidal Eagle
Of special interest is a third, smaller scale image of an eagle warrior almost lost in the rib vault above the apsidal arch.  Apparently overlooking the battle raging along the walls below, 
the warrior is again extravagantly plumed and in full battle regalia, with breast plate and banner, standing atop another place glyph and vigorously calling down in a variety of powerful speech. 
   While for the friars, if they were aware of it, this figure might symbolize the Archangel Michael—patron saint of Ixmiquilpan, whose image appears nowhere else in the church—leading the heavenly host in their victory over Satan's forces, for the native audience however, it might rather have commemorated the military triumphs and splendor of the lost Aztec empire, of which Ixmiquilpan was an important tributary outpost and ally.
   In our next post we will consider the celebrated battle friezes themselves.

* ABEL-TURBY, Mickey, “The New World Augustinians and Franciscans in Philosophical Opposition: The Visual Statement”, Colonial Latin American Review, 1996, vol. 5: 1
ALBORNOZ BUENO, Alicia, La memoria del olvido. Glifos y murales de la iglesia de San Miguel Arcángel Ixmiquilpan Hidalgo: Teopan dedicado a Tezcatlipoca, Pachuca, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, 1994. 
ESTRADA DE GERLERO, Elena, “El friso monumental de Itzmiquilpan”, Actes du XLII Congrès International des Américanistes, Paris, 2-9 September, 1976.

FRASER, Valerie, “Ixmiquilpan: from European ornament to Mexican pictograph”, Altars and Idols: the life of the dead in Mexico, M.A. Gallery Studies catalogue, University of Essex, 1991, 

NYE, Harriet, “The Talking Murals of Ixmiquilpan”, Mexico Quarterly Re- view, 1968, vol. 3: 2,

PIERCE, Donna L., “Identification of the Warriors in the Frescoes of Ixmiquilpan”, Research Center for the Arts and Humanities Review, 1981, vol. 4: 4, October, p. 1-8.

WAKE, Eleanor,  SACRED BOOKS AND SACRED SONGS FROM FORMER DAYS: SOURCING THE MURAL PAINTINGS AT SAN MIGUEL ARCÁNGEL IXMIQUILPAN. Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl 31 (2000)

text and graphics © 1992 & 2017 Richard D. Perry.

color photography by the author and Niccolo Brooker.