Men’s Jewelry through the Portrait Gallery of Viceroys in the Museo Nacional de Historia (Mexico City)

Abstract

The portrait gallery devoted to the viceroys of New Spain in the Museo Nacional de Historia in Mexico City constitutes a historical document of exceptional value for the study and analysis of masculine jewelry in the Hispanic world. It facilitates an approach both to the typologies of jewels worn throughout the colonial régime and their morphology and evolution. Among the jewels worn by the viceroys the most outstanding for their diversity and richness are the chivalric insignia known as encomiendas or hábitos which proclaim publicly the noble status of their bearers and their membership of a narrow and select social group.