nconchados: Tastes, Strategies and Prices in New Spain

Abstract

This text discusses, on the basis of a documen-tary analysis, the Novo-Hispanic consumption of mother-of-pearl inlaid paintings. Many of the conserved examples are virtuoso works, connected with Miguel and Juan González, and survived until the twentieth century in Spanish collections. Nonetheless, the documentary information shows that the extensive consumption by different social groups in New Spain embraced works of widely differing quality and price that must have been executed in different painting studios. The documentary analysis is complemented with the formal study of examples by González, Nicolás Correa and anonymous artists, the characteristics of which demonstrate the considerable diversity generated by this mode of painting. The study of this production thus sheds light on an important sector of artistic interest during the Viceroyalty.