Hernán Cortés's Legacy at Museo Nacional de Historia (the National Museum of History, MNH-INAH), Mexico. Diagnosis, Historical Research, Material Analysis and Conservation of a Mortuary Linen from the 18th-19th Centuries

Abstract

The Museo Nacional de Historia (MNH, National Museum of History) of the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH, National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico) holds a very special linen in its collection: a handkerchief that might have contained the skeletal remains of conquistador Hernan Cortes. A two-stage project —aiming at the conservation and restoration of this particular linen— started in February 2014. On one hand a cultural-historical study was carried out in order to prove the historical value of the textile. Information was traced about the final years of conquistador and founder Hernan Cortes as well as about the burials and exhumations of his mortal remains. On the other hand extensive time was dedicated to the observation and recording of the cultural object in order to understand the linen’s manufacturing and its deterioration problems. This REPORT shows the twofold process of research as well as the technical intervention of an astonishing piece belonging to our cultural heritage.