Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgements The author gratefully acknowledges the careful reading and detailed suggestions provided by Eloise Quiñones Keber, Michel Besson and Fred Luciani, which helped to improve the contents and the English prose of this article. I wish to thank Niccolò Brooker, who kindly granted me permission to use some of his photographs of the Monastery of Calpan, and Richard Perry, who generously allowed me to reproduce his drawing of the plan of the atrio and posa chapels. Notes 1. In order to understand these beliefs, we must go back several centuries to review the concept of Millenarianism or Millennialism. According to this medieval idea, before the Last Judgment Christ would return to earth in order to establish an earthly kingdom of peace and righteousness, which would last for 1000 years, the ‘millennium’ (a term derived from mille, the Latin word for 1000). While Satan was chained for 1000 years, the martyrs and all who had been faithful to Jesus would come back to life (the ‘first resurrection’) and share in His royal priesthood in a messianic kingdom. As the 1000 years neared their end, Satan would be permitted to resume his activity, but after a bitter struggle would be conquered definitively by Christ, who would preside over the Last Judgment. When the dead arose from their tombs (the ‘second resurrection’), sinners would be judged and plunged forever into the lake of fire (the ‘second death’), while the righteous would enter into the eternal happiness of heaven (Aguilar-Moreno 2005 Aguilar-Moreno , Manuel. 2005 . Utopía de piedra: El arte Tequitqui de México . Guadalajara , , Mexico : Conexión Gráfica . [Google Scholar], 55–66). 2. The Age of the Apocalypse refers to the ‘unveiling’ or ‘revelation’ of Jesus Christ as Messiah. This term has come to mean, in common usage, the Last Judgment and the End of the World. 3. The doctrine of Millenarianism originated in the Jewish apocalyptic and messianic tradition, and was adopted by the early Christian church as a way to explain the Roman persecutions. Later, Saint Augustine in the City of God advanced the theory that the millennium had actually begun with Christ's nativity (New Catholic Encyclopedia 1967–1974 New Catholic Encyclopedia . 1967–1974 . Editorial Staff of Catholic University of America . New York : McGraw-Hill . [Google Scholar]). 4. After Joachim de Fiore's death, his ideas were mixed with apochryphal and pseudo-Joachimite writings, probably originating among the Spiritualist Franciscan writers, which resulted in Joachim's ideas being condemned as heretical by the Catholic Church. 5. The European intellectual atmosphere and the achievements of the Spanish church reform movement impacted the quality and aims of New World missionaries. Reformists in the late fifteenth century advocated stricter adherence to the original mendicant rules of poverty and celibacy and a clergy educated in the new humanist scholarship. By the second decade of the sixteenth century, the reform movement promoted in 1505 by Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros in Spain had produced dedicated groups of friars proclaiming a militant form of evangelism. When called to the American mission, the newly energized mendicants moved with self assurance (Peterson 1993 Peterson , Jeanette Favrot. 1993 . The paradise garden murals of Malinalco . Austin : University of Texas Press . [Google Scholar], 138). Mendicant attitudes were also affected by exposure to the classical arts offered in university curricula and in the influx of new ideas from other European countries, such as the criticism of the corruption in European Catholicism by Erasmus of Rotterdam and the utopian ideas of Thomas More's Utopia, which were followed in the pueblo-hospitals of Santa Fe by bishop Vasco de Quiroga. These communities experimented with the ideas of establishing a primitive church based both on preconceived humanist concepts of what constituted an ideal society and on the precedents of early church history. Mixed with the asceticism of the newly reformed church, this humanist training produced the particular utopian ideologies carried by Spanish friars to New Spain. This complex cultural basis proves indispensable in understanding much of what happened during the sixteenth century in Mexico. Among the most distinguished humanist missionaries are Fray Juan de Zumárraga, Fray Julián Garcés, Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Fray Diego de Valadés and Vasco de Quiroga (see Méndez Plancarte 1994 Méndez Plancarte , Gabriel. 1994 . Humanistas mexicanos del siglo XVI . Mexico City : Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México . [Google Scholar]). 6. In English, the term monastery is generally used to denote the buildings of a community of monks. The name convent tends to be used (inaccurately) for the buildings accommodating female monastics (nuns). Various religions may use these terms in different ways. For the sake of practicality, in this article I will use the words monastery and convent as equivalent terms. The use of the word ‘fortress-monastery’ in this article refers to the fort-like shape of the building and not to any defensive function, since I argue that the monasteries were imitating the walled city of Jerusalem to symbolize the friars’ effort to create an Indian Jerusalem in America. See also Bargellini 1998 Bargellini , Clara. 1998 . Representations of conversion: Sixteenth-century architecture in New Spain . In The world made image: Religion, art, and architecture in Spain and Spanish America, 1500–1600 , Jonathan Brown , 91 – 102 . Boston : The Trustees of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum . [Google Scholar], 91–102; Lara 2004 Lara , Jaime. 2004 . City, temple, stage: Eschatological architecture and liturgical theatrics in New Spain . South Bend , IN : University of Notre Dame Press . [Google Scholar], 91–110; DaCosta Kaufmann 2004 DaCosta Kaufmann , Thomas. 2004 . Toward a geography of art . Chicago : University of Chicago Press . [Google Scholar], 272–302. 7. Transculturation is the elaboration of new cultural forms common to neither the donor nor the recipient culture, with the suppression or loss of certain traditional ones. The result of transculturation is the resolution of conflicts over time (Ortiz 1940 Ortiz , Fernando. 1940 . Contrapunteo cubano del tabaco y del azúcar . Havana : J. Montero . [Google Scholar]). Tequitqui art is precisely an expression of transculturation in sixteenth-century Mexico. The Spaniards imposed their Christian art on the Indians, who, as they created buildings, sculptures and paintings, produced an Indian-Christian art that shows the blend of the two cultural traditions. In my view, the older terms hybridization and syncretism are specific expressions of the transculturation in ethnical, linguistic or religious situations. To study this phenomenon deeper, see Moreno Villa 1942 Moreno Villa , José. 1942 . La escultura colonial mexicana . Mexico City : Colegio de México . [Google Scholar] and 1948 Moreno Villa , José. 1948 . Lo mexicano en las artes plásticas . Mexico City : Colegio de México . [Google Scholar]; Neumeyer 1948 Neumeyer , Alfred. 1948 . The Indian contribution to architectural decoration in Spanish colonial America . Art Bulletin 30 : 67 – 83 . doi: 10.2307/3047170 [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; McAndrew 1965 McAndrew , John. 1965 . The open-air churches of sixteenth-century Mexico . Cambridge , MA : Harvard University Press .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Aguilar-Moreno 1999 Aguilar-Moreno , Manuel. 1999 . The Tequitqui art of sixteenth-century Mexico: An expression of transculturation . PhD. dissertation , The University of Texas at Austin . [Google Scholar] and 2005; Cummins 1995 Cummins , Thomas. 1995 . From lies to truth: Colonial ekphrasis and the act of crosscultural translation . In Reframing the Renaissance: Visual culture in Europe and Latin America, 1450–1650 , Claire Farago , 152 – 74 . New Haven : Yale University Press . [Google Scholar], 152–74; Leibsohn and Peterson 2012 Leibsohn , Dana , and Jeanette Favrot Peterson 2012 . Seeing across cultures in the early modern world . Burlington , VT : Ashgate . [Google Scholar], 1–21; and Liss 1995 Liss , Peggy. 1995 . Orígenes de la nacionalidad mexicana . Mexico City : Fondo de Cultura Económica . [Google Scholar]. 8. Tequitqui is a hybrid art formed by the combination of elements of diverse artistic styles, which were in vogue in Europe at the moment of the Spanish Conquest, with pre-Columbian forms. A brief profile of those styles follows. Gothic: the style of European art and architecture prevalent between the 12th and 15th centuries, characterized by pointed arches, rib vaults, rose windows, stained-glass, flying buttresses, and an emphasis on verticality and height. Gothic ornamentation, although similar to Romanesque, is more naturalistic and less rigid. Mudéjar: a Spanish style prevalent between the 10th and 16th centuries that combines Christian and Islamic elements and was mainly produced by Arab artists; characterized by geometrical forms in brick, stucco, or tile, and wood carved with great mastery and intricate ornamentation. Plateresque: a Spanish style developed during the 15th and 16th centuries that is transitional between the Gothic and Renaissance and is characterized by baluster columns, heraldic escutcheons, clusters of profuse ornamentation with vegetal and geometrical forms; its name comes from the comparison with the filigree work of the plateros (silversmiths). Renaissance: a style of architecture and decoration based on Greco-Roman models and humanistic ideals that originated in Italy in the 15th century and extended throughout Europe until the end of the 16th century. When I use the word Gothic-Plateresque, it refers to a building made in Plateresque style with Gothic tendencies. The same applies to Renaissance-Plateresque, which tends more toward Renaissance forms. (For more details, see Encyclopaedia Britannica and diverse specific monographs about each art period.) 9. Although the workshops and grand-scale construction programs of pre-Columbian art were destroyed, traces of its aesthetic vitality reappeared in smaller workshops under the directions of the Spanish friars. However, native artists often concealed pre-Columbian symbols in some European styles and techniques. The friars imposed Spanish aesthetics on native preferences, although frequently they intermingled compatibly. When the styles mixed, the resulting hybrid was often stylistically consistent enough to be classified as a separate style. It is interesting to note the different positions of diverse authors about the concept of tequitqui. Vargas-Lugo (1969 Vargas Lugo , Elisa. 1969 . Las portadas religiosas de México . Mexico City : Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México . [Google Scholar], 266–69) accepted it with reservations, arguing against inconsistencies and contradictions in Moreno Villa's explanations. Reyes-Valerio did not accept the word tequitqui at all. He disagreed with many of Moreno Villa's artistic concepts and disqualified the use of the term, arguing that it is imprecise and inadequate. His main objection was that Moreno Villa's judgment of pre-Columbian art is derogatory and ‘hispanista,’ because in comparing it to Greco-Roman canons he called it grotesque and squat. He also disagreed with the analogy that Moreno Villa established between mudéjar art and Tequitqui, because the Moors had more freedom of expression than Indian artists in América. Indian art was considered unsuitable for the European constructive traditions and their iconography was judged as demonic. In addition to this, Reyes-Valerio (1978 Reyes-Valerio , Constantino. 1978 . El arte indocristiano . Mexico City : Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia . [Google Scholar], 129–40) assumed that the Indians had been Christianized by force and therefore suffered strong psychological damage to their identity. The previous arguments also give the impression of being influenced by some degree of anti-Spanish sentiment because the term tequitqui was coined by a Spaniard. On the other hand, while disagreeing with some of Moreno Villa's concepts, other authors, including myself, support the use of the term tequitqui, because it is an indigenous word that describes the nature of their own art work at that complex historical moment (Toussaint 1962 Toussaint , Manuel. 1962 . Arte colonial en México . Mexico City : Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México . [Google Scholar], 28; McAndrew 1965 McAndrew , John. 1965 . The open-air churches of sixteenth-century Mexico . Cambridge , MA : Harvard University Press .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 196–201; Aguilar-Moreno 1999 Aguilar-Moreno , Manuel. 1999 . The Tequitqui art of sixteenth-century Mexico: An expression of transculturation . PhD. dissertation , The University of Texas at Austin . [Google Scholar], and 2005 Aguilar-Moreno , Manuel. 2005 . Utopía de piedra: El arte Tequitqui de México . Guadalajara , , Mexico : Conexión Gráfica . [Google Scholar], 107–32). 10. I support the persistence and continuity of Indian motifs in colonial architecture; however, scholars like Kubler (1961 Kubler , George. 1961 . On the colonial extinction of the motifs of pre-Columbian art . In Essays in pre-Columbian art and archaeology , Samuel K. Lothrop et al. , 4 – 34 . Cambridge , MA : Harvard University Press . [Google Scholar], 14–34) have argued against the continuity of pre-Columbian art in colonial architecture and they see instead a profound disjunction. See also DaCosta Kaufmann 2004 DaCosta Kaufmann , Thomas. 2004 . Toward a geography of art . Chicago : University of Chicago Press . [Google Scholar], 219–38. 11. Calvarios or Calvary crosses are stone crosses placed on pedestals that represents Mount Calvary (Golgotha) and were located on the side of roads. The term humilladero refers both to a simple wayside Calvary cross and a wayside chapel or shrine containing a Calvary cross or image, usually at the entrance to a town. The calvarios and humilladeros were considered sacred places that served as oratories for peasants, travelers and shepherds who circulated on the roads of the countryside. 12. In church architecture, the buildings and specifically the façades are made of several superimposed sculptorial compositions that are separated by horizontal beam-like elements called entablatures. These successive stages known as bodies go from the ground to the top and form the totality of the structure. 13. Maguey, also called agave, produces three kinds of alcoholic beverages: pulque, mezcal and tequila. The Indians also used its strong fiber to make cloaks and cloth, and for medicinal purpose. 14. This scene depicts Christ as judge of humankind, flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The presence of these two sacred personages represents the prayer for intercession for all the souls of the Old and New Testaments. It symbolizes the gathering of the people of all times under the reign of Christ. The origin of this iconographic motif is Byzantine and from there came to the West. For further reference, see Rahner and Vorgrimler 1981 Rahner , Karl , and Herbert Vorgrimler . 1981 . Dictionary of theology . New York : Crossroad . [Google Scholar], and Cantó Rubio 1985 Cantó Rubio , Juan. 1985 . Símbolos del arte cristiano . Salamanca : Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca . [Google Scholar]. 15. The Tetramorph is a fantastic animal of ancient oriental iconography that has a human head, head of a lion, head and two hoofs of a bull and the head and wings of an eagle (Ezekiel 1, 3–12; Revelation 4, 6). By extension, it refers to the representation of all the emblems of the four evangelists.