The Mexican colonial period has traditionally been considered a dark period in the arts, a long gap between the arrival of the Spaniards and the early twentieth century. Through new and focused scholarship, the exhibition catalogue The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico demonstrates that just the opposite is true.

This landmark publication features extraordinary decorative and fine arts from the Mexican viceregal period (1521-1821). The lavishly illustrated catalogue is written in Spanish and English and, for the first time, presents to American audiences the rich artistic heritage of colonial Mexico. Five insightful essays by Mexican and American specialists explore the confluence of cultures that gives the arts of colonial Mexico a distinctive quality. This distinction, which differentiates the works from the arts of both Spain and other Latin American countries, is not widely understood in either the United States or Mexico. Expert commentaries enable readers to learn in greater depth about the outstanding collection of paintings, sculptures, furniture, ceramics, metals, textiles, featherwork, lacquer, and books housed in the Museo Franz Mayer in Mexico City.

The contributors are:

• D. Hector Rivero Borrell Miranda, Director of the Museo Franz Mayer, Mexico City
• Gustavo Curiel, cultural historian
• Antonio Rubial García, historian
• Juana Gutiérrez Haces, art historian
• Peter C. Marzio, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
• David B. Warren, Director of Bayou Bend Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston