| Note: | K10 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Object Name: | Baptismal font inside Church of Santiago Tlatelolco | |
| Creation Date: | ||
| Culture: | Colonial Mexican | |
| Location: | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| Repository: | ||
| Image source: | © Dr. Manuel Aguilar | |
| Baptismal font where the Indian Juan Diego, who was the witness to the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe, was baptized. This picture shows the baptismal font in which according to tradition, the Indian Juan Diego, the protagonist of the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe, was christened. On the western wall of the church is a huge painting of Saint Christopher carrying Baby Jesus. He was a saint of strong devotion for the Indians because the parallel he had with the Aztec priests who carried the bundle of Huitzilopochtli during the legendary migration to the Valley of Mexico. In the monastery of Tlatelolco was founded the College of Santa Cruz in 1536. It would be the first and only native seminary to be established in New Spain, with the blessing of Viceroy Mendoza and Archbishop Zumarraga. Eminent Franciscan teachers like Bernardino de Sahagun, Garcia de Cisneros, Juan Focher, Francisco Bustamante, Andres de Olmos, Arnaldo Bassacio and Juan de Gaona instructed the sons of the native nobility in Christian doctrine, Philosophy, Rhetoric, Latin and Theology in preparation for the priesthood (Vargas Lugo 1994: 17-2 1) | ||
