| Note: | K11 |
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|---|---|---|
| Object Name: | Altarpiece of Santiago, the Indian-slayer, Church of Santiago Tlatelolco | |
| Creation Date: | ||
| Culture: | Colonial Mexican | |
| Location: | Mexico City, Mexico | |
| Repository: | ||
| Image source: | © Dr. Manuel Aguilar | |
| Altarpiece of Santiago (Mataindios) the Indian-slayer, that shows Aztec Eagle and Jaguar Warriors. Church of Santiago Tlatelolco. During the anti-clerical barbarities of the nineteenth-century, the church was vandalized and stripped of its furnishings because it was destined to be a workshop to disinfect railroad wagons! The magnificent altarpiece was destroyed and the only remaining fragment is the central relief that represents the unique theme of Santiago Mataindios (St. James the Indian-Killer). This image attributed to the Indian woodcarver Miguel Mauricio shows a very animated and dramatic composition that anticipates the energy of the Baroque. The brutal scene that substitutes Moors by Indians tries to be a didactic instruction for the Indian audience about the victory of Christianity against the native idolatrous religion. The militant Santiago wears a plumed helmet and mounts his white warhorse, brandishing a sword above a scene of fearful butchery. On the left, Spanish troops dressed as Roman soldiers are attacking Indian warriors, many wounded and bloody, with their severed limbs around them. Even Santiago's horse bites the vanquished natives and tramples them beneath his iron hooves. A very interesting detail of tequitqui nature is that next to the head of the horse are the images of Aztec eagle and jaguar warriors that are being crushed by the hurricane-like image of Santiago. | ||
