Museo Franz Mayer
The Museo Franz Mayer is an art museum in the historic center of Mexico City . It was built in 1986 in an old building that had previously been used as a hospital for over four centuries. The museum houses the collection of the art collector Franz Mayer , which has a focus on handicrafts and objects from Mexico. In addition to handicrafts, the collection also includes paintings, textiles and books.
history
Franz Mayer collected handicrafts such as ceramics, furniture, silver work and textiles from Asia, Europe and especially Mexico. He also collected paintings and books. In 1963 he set up the Franz Mayer Cultural Trusteeship fund , which is administered by the Banco de México . After his death in 1975, efforts began to set up his own museum. In 1981 the Ministry of Urban Development and Public Works handed over the building on Plaza de la Santa Veracruz to the Franz Mayers Foundation. In the same year, the restoration and adaptation of the building to the requirements of a museum began. The Museo Franz Mayer was opened on July 15, 1986. At the opening, the work was not yet finished. There was as yet no museum shop, cafeteria or library. In 1988 the last construction work on the Museo Franz Mayer was completed. An adjacent building was purchased in 1998 to accommodate the personnel offices and new storage rooms. The museum is to be modernized by 2020 in order to bring the exhibition rooms up to date.
building
The Museo Franz Mayer is located in a building whose history dates back to the 16th century. It was originally used as a warehouse for flour. In 1582 Pedro López , the first doctor to graduate from the Real y Pontificia Universidad de México , built a hospital in it, which was aimed primarily at underprivileged groups in society. After López's death in 1597, his son took over the management of the hospital, which was run with the support of the Dominicans. The following year one of the Dominicans traveled to Spain and in 1599 achieved that King Philip III. began to support the institution financially. In 1604, the Order of the Brothers of Mercy of St. John of God moved into the building and operated the hospital as the Order's first health care facility in America. In 1620 major renovations began, which led to the construction of a church, a convent and a hospital. The altar was consecrated in 1650, and construction work was completed in 1673. On March 10, 1766, the hospital was partially destroyed in a fire, and on March 8, 1800, the same happened with an earthquake.
As a result of the decisions of the Cortes of Cádiz , the orders were suppressed and in 1821 the brothers of St. John of God gave up the hospital. In 1826 the last sick were transferred to other hospitals. The building was used as a school from 1830 to 1834, after which the use changed. During the French intervention in Mexico , the building was again used as a hospital. This time it was aimed at prostitutes. From 1875 it was run publicly and was named Morelos Hospital . From 1914 it was used as a women's and children's hospital. The building complex was declared a national cultural heritage in 1937 and was used as an exhibition space during the 1968 Summer Olympics as a result of a change in function. It kept its function as a center for handicrafts. In 1981 it was given to the Museum Foundation.
collection
The collection of the Museo Franz Mayer includes over 11,000 works of art and 10,000 books. Her focus is on handicrafts from the 16th to the 19th century. Thus, silverwork , ceramics , textiles , furniture , feather art , ivory , glass art , tortoiseshell - and enamel work can be seen in the permanent exhibition. The collection also includes sculptures and paintings.
The collection of the Museo Franz Mayer includes around 1,300 pieces of silver since the 15th century, making it one of the most important collections of its kind in Mexico. The objects represent the various developments and designs of these works of art. A variety of them are objects that have been used in Catholic liturgy , such as crucifixes , tabernacles , candlesticks, and chalices. In addition, works of civil silver objects such as plates, bowls and cutlery can be seen in the museum. Small, golden cigarette cases set with precious stones are special pieces. The ceramics department comprises around 1,600 objects and 10,000 tiles, which are not officially added to the number of objects in the collection. Chinese porcelain is represented with bottles, vases, plates and cups. The collection also includes plates and cups bearing the logos of the British East India Company from the late 18th century. A far larger number of ceramic objects come from Mexico, many of which were made in Puebla . They include plates, bowls, jugs, drinking vessels and vases. Most of the plates and bowls show ornamental or religious motifs, while some plates, but especially vases, show paintings based on Chinese porcelain. Textiles are represented in the collection with embroidery of depictions of the Virgin Mary. But it also includes capes embroidered with floral elements and also chasubles . Of the feather art works in the Museo Franz Mayer, a rosary Madonna is particularly outstanding.
Processional cross
Cigarette cases
Vase with painting reminiscent of Chinese porcelain, Puebla, 19th century
chasuble
The Museo Franz Mayer owns over 700 pieces of furniture, most of which come from Mexico and Spain. The collection includes chairs and cupboards in various designs, as well as desks, chests of drawers and chests. They cover the period from the middle of the 16th century to the end of the 19th century. Special pieces include a door from 18th century Mexico with wooden inlays as decoration and a presentation platform for a religious sculpture from the same period.
Desk, Spain, 17th century
Pharmacy facility
Door, Mexico, 18th century
Both Mexican and European paintings are exhibited in the Museo Franz Mayer, so that the various influences and points of reference can be understood by the visitor. One focus is on Spanish painting from the 14th century to modern times. The collection includes Jusepe de Ribera , Francisco de Zurbarán , Juan Correa de Vivar , Joaquín Sorolla and Ignacio Zuloaga . There are also paintings by Italian painters such as Lorenzo Lotto or German painters such as Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder . The collection also includes Flemish and Dutch works. Mexican painting is represented by religious paintings of the 17th century. For example through Juan Correa's Virgin of Balvenara and Juan Tinoco's The Care of Saint Cajetan . Special pieces in the collection are the biombos , which are represented by one from the late 17th century depicting the conquest of Mexico and one from the late 18th century depicting a pastoral scene. The Modern Art , for example, with a landscape painting of José María Velasco and going Melancolicos El Paseo de , an early work of Diego Rivera represented. The sculpture collection of the Museo Franz Mayer includes, among other things, a Maria with child from the mid-16th century. There are also other religious sculptures such as a depiction of the Archangel Michael from the 16th / 17th centuries. Century, to see a mourning Mary from the same period or an enthroned Saint Anne from the 17th century. Another outstanding piece is the large equestrian sculpture of Saint James.
Francisco de Zurbarán , La partida de San Pedro Nicolaso de Barcelona , Spain, 17th century
Biombo The Conquest of Mexico , Mexico, late 17th century
Equestrian figure of Saint James
Many old and rare books are kept in the library. It contains over 800 different editions of the book Don Quixote de la Mancha . There are also valuable choir books from the 18th century in the library.
literature
- Héctor Rivero Borrell M., Gustavo Curiel, Antonio Rubial García, Juana Gutiérrez Haces, David B. Warren: The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico: Treasures from the Museo Franz Mayer . University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 2002, ISBN 0-89090-107-4 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Emiliano Balerini Casal: Franz Mayer Museum: 25 años de arte decorativo. ( Memento of the original from August 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Published in Milenio on July 15, 2011, retrieved from milenio.com on October 16, 2011.
- ↑ History of the building on franzmayer.org, access on 16 October 2011. ( Memento of the original from 1 October 2011 at the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Héctor Rivero Borrell M., Gustavo Curiel, Antonio Rubial García, Juana Gutiérrez Haces, David B. Warren: The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico: Treasures from the Museo Franz Mayer. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 2002, p. 224.
- ^ Héctor Rivero Borrell M., Gustavo Curiel, Antonio Rubial García, Juana Gutiérrez Haces, David B. Warren: The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico: Treasures from the Museo Franz Mayer. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 2002, p. 344.
- ^ Héctor Rivero Borrell M., Gustavo Curiel, Antonio Rubial García, Juana Gutiérrez Haces, David B. Warren: The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico: Treasures from the Museo Franz Mayer. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas 2002, p. 152.
- ↑ General information about the museum on franzmayer.org, accessed on October 16, 2011. ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Coordinates: 19 ° 26 '14.2 " N , 99 ° 8' 35.9" W.