The Birth of the Virgin

Enconchados, paintings inlaid with mother-of-pearl, abalone or other shell, are unique in the artistic production of religious and secular artifacts in Nueva España, which flourished from approximately 1650 to 1750. Known masters or workshops devoted to this specialized and highly prized craft were Tomás González and his sons, Miguel and Juan who exclusively produced enconchado paintings and frames. However, numerous enconchados by anonymous masters also proliferated as these were greatly desired. These magnificent objects, such as this enconchado, were commissioned by religious orders such as the Franciscans and Augustines, but were also coveted by elite colonial families for private devotion and as status symbols. The delicate technique developed in Mexico due to the extensive trade with its colonial outpost in the Philippines. The Manila Galleon’s yearly trip with its precious cargo of luxurious wares from diverse parts of Asia such as China, Japan, and India, included fine lacquerware, exquisite ivories, lustrous porcelains, brilliantly-colored silks, lavish embroideries, and other marvelous items, was a commercial enterprise begun in 1573 lasting up to 1815. Linking Manila and Acapulco, this trade transformed these cities into global markets for precious commodities and enriched Spain’s coffers and that of its overseas territories while introducing various new artistic techniques. This vast exchange not only made possible the arrival of unusual and opulent goods, but also the migration of craftsmen from China and Japan, and other countries to Nueva España eager to ply their skills.
Enconchados portraying diverse events in the life of Mary were extremely popular due to Marian devotion that thrived in medieval Europe and continued in the Spanish colonies. Lot 36, The Education of the Virgin, sold at Christie’s Latin American sale, May 2012 and now in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is a dazzling portrayal of the Blessed Virgin as she enters the Temple at a young age to be schooled and guided by elder pious women; and Lot 34, The Annunciation, sold at Christie’s Latin American sale, May 2017, which details the Archangel Gabriel’s apparition to the Virgin to bring her the news that she is to bear the Son of God, is yet another wonderful example. The present enconchado relating to the birth of the Virgin Mary is presented as a continuous narrative, that is, a composition describing various scenes within the same pictorial space, and seems almost cinematic as the viewer perceives these sequences unfolding one after the other. This visual story-telling was prevalent in European painting and graphic arts and local artists were certainly familiar with this device through the thousands of prints that had been available to them as early as the sixteenth-century. Noted in the upper right area of the chamber are the Virgin’s elderly parents, Saint Joachim who sits tenderly by Saint Anne, the Virgin’s mother, who rests on a sumptuous bed as she has just given birth to her child. The room’s perspective clearly aids delineate the beautiful spaces in the home; to the left, in another area, women are busily making provisions amidst boiling pots for the arrival of the child. In the foreground, the newly-born child is being wrapped in white linens, while a small bed awaits her tiny body. The painting, covered with small bits and pieces of mother-of-pearl or nácar, provided a wondrous vision whether at home or in a church heightened all the more by lit candles that intensified the shimmering quality of its surface. The effect produced by such objects enhanced pious devotion to the sacred story, which was the intended purpose of these extravagant images.
M. J. Aguilar, Ph.D.