Museum of the City of Mexico
Encyclopedia
The Museum of the City of Mexico (Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico) is located at Pino Suarez 30, a few blocks south of the Zocalo
, on what was the Iztapalapa Causeway, near where Hernán Cortés
and Moctezuma II
met for the first time. This building used to be the palace of the Counts of Santiago de Calimaya, who were the descendents of one of the conquistadors with Cortés. The house was extensively remodeled to much the appearance that it has today and remained in the family until 1960, when the Mexico City
government acquired it from them in order to found the Museum that is found there today. The museum contains a number of elements of the old palace as well as 26 rooms dedicated to the history and development of Mexico City from Aztec times to the present. It also contains a library and the studios of painter Joaquín Clausell
, who lived here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
in 1616. He and subsequent Counts had great influence over the decisions of viceroys and bishops. These Counts were also known for their stylish dress and high living standards. The palace was built in the 17th century, replacing the older structures here, in order to show the family’s new socioeconomic station. However, not long after this, the family’s fortunes began to decline until Juan Lorenzo Altamirano Velasco y Flores, Count of Santiago de Calimaya had his property put into official receivership.
At this time, the viceregal government decided to renovate the deteriorated palace in 1777, giving the work to Francisco Antonio Guerrero y Torres, putting a lien on the building’s rental income. The Aztec serpent’s head that serves and the building's impressive cornerstone was probably uncovered during these renovations. Cost of remodeling the house was 130,000 pesos. During this time, the palace chapel was added, built between 1778 and 1781. At that time, it was common to attend Mass everyday but at the same time upper-class women were generally not permitted to walk on the streets to go to church. Many large mansions and palaces, therefore, had their own chapels with their own sacristies
. These families would have private Masses
said in their homes.
Until the end of the 19th century, the house was part of one of the main commercial centers of the city. Like many other mansions, the family rented space on the ground floor to merchants and rooms inside as living quarters. However, by the end of the 19th century, this area slowly ceased to be an area for the wealthy. More of the house was rented and adapted to lower-class tenants. The family tried to keep the upper part of the house for itself, but economic realities eventually forced them out of the house altogether to rent it entirely as tenements.
. The main entrance and portal are done in cantera, a grayish-white stone, as well as the central balcony. There are also frieze
s on the facade done in basalt
. The Baroque
portal rests on four clawed feet and mascaron
s. It also has cannon-shaped gargoyle
s, which could be fired, but only with permission of city authorities. The look that survives today is the result of remodeling work done in the late 18th century and was one of the last major Baroque projects in Mexico
. One of the building's most distinctive elements is the previously-mentioned Aztec serpent’s head, which was probably uncovered during this work. It is thought that the head may have come from the Templo Mayor and was placed as the cornerstone of the original house that was owned by Juan Gutierrez Altamirano.
Inside, the house has two floors with two courtyards, which was common with houses of Mexican nobility. The family's coat-of-arms adorn the arches of the main courtyard. One distinctive element of the palace is the fountain in the shape of a shell located in the main courtyard. Its deteriorated condition and the fact that there is little space between it and the windows near it suggest that it dates back to before the 18th-century remodeling. The focus of the fountain is a Nereid playing a guitar. It is possible that the marine motif refers to the sea voyages the Counts made to places like the Philippines
.
The house had its own chapel, but only fragments of the facade remain in the structure today. One room that survives nearly intact is the music room. In the 19th century, music was one of the activities that the upper-class engaged in on a daily basis. European composers such as Franz Shubert, Chopin, Beethoven and Liszt
were preferred but music by Mexican composers such as Tomás León, Aniceto Ortega
and Melesio Morales could be played as well. Music rooms were considered important during that time period to show the culture of the family.
The main stairwell is located in the main courtyard opposite the nereid fountain. The dogs that adorn the banister of the main stairwell and the mascarons over the main doorway have an Oriental look to them, which was not common in such residences. Partly because of this, it has been speculated that the wood and the labor used to create parts of the house were of Philippine origin. However, both the work and the wood are native to Mexico, although the wood is not very common.
, the Museo de Arte Moderno
the Museo de Virreinato and the Galería de Historia.
It has 26 rooms covering the evolution of Mexico City from Aztec times to the present. The permanent collection is divided into the following periods of time: the pre-Hispanic period, the colonial period (16th to 18th century), the 19th century and the 20th century. The pre-Hispanic room contains objects such as metate
s (flat stones for grinding corn), jars, bowls, urns, incense burners as well as Aztec codices
, maps and other objects showing the everyday life of people in the Mexican highlands of this time period. The colonial-era, 19th and 20th century rooms also contain everyday items from these time periods such as furniture, desks, tables, vases, and jars as well as arts such as sculptures and paintings.
The studio of Campeche
painter Joaquín Clausell occupies several rooms in the upper part of the house. He lived there as the husband of Angela Cervantes, a descendent of the Counts of Santiago de Calimaya. Clausell received visitors in these rooms such as Gerardo Murillo (Dr. Atl), Diego Rivera
, Carlos Pellicer
, Salvador Novo
and Julio Ruelas
. The rooms contain 1,300 sketches by the artist including portraits of famous people, images of Christ, angels and animals and mythological scenes. These works show influences from the Impressionism
and Symbolism
movements. The collection of works by Clausell include foreshortened figures that the artist made simply to clean his brushes. Clausell’s works are on display here due to an agreement between the Museum and the Museo Nacional de Arte
, where every two months, works by this artists are circulated between the two museums.
The Jaime Torres Bodet
Library contains approximately 10,000 volumes, mostly dealing with topics related to Mexico City. Its collection came from several sources including the 19th century newspaper collection, maps of the city from the city council reserve as well as original copies of laws passed by the city council. It also contains a large collection of books about the history of the city.
There are also temporary exhibits, educational programs for children and adults, a room devoted to the river system in the Valley of Mexico
, a bookstore, and guided tours. One of the events recently held here was called “Beats & Bits,” which traced the origins of electronic music
from the beginnings of the 20th century to the present. Another event was an exposition of Mexican wrestling (lucha libre
) featuring photographs, costumes and other objects related to this spectacle.
In 1999, then-mayor of Mexico City, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, gave the keys of the city to Pope John Paul II
here.
Zócalo
The Zócalo is the main plaza or square in the heart of the historic center of Mexico City. The plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Square," and today its formal name is Plaza de la Constitución...
, on what was the Iztapalapa Causeway, near where Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
and Moctezuma II
Moctezuma II
Moctezuma , also known by a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520...
met for the first time. This building used to be the palace of the Counts of Santiago de Calimaya, who were the descendents of one of the conquistadors with Cortés. The house was extensively remodeled to much the appearance that it has today and remained in the family until 1960, when the Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
government acquired it from them in order to found the Museum that is found there today. The museum contains a number of elements of the old palace as well as 26 rooms dedicated to the history and development of Mexico City from Aztec times to the present. It also contains a library and the studios of painter Joaquín Clausell
Joaquín Clausell
Joaquín Clausell was a Mexican impressionist painter. He was born in Campeche, studied law, and later became a journalist. He was opposed to Porfirio Díaz's regime and persecuted by the authorities; he left Mexico and went to New York City and then moved to Paris, where he met Émile Zola and the...
, who lived here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Palace of the Counts of Santiago de Calimaya
After the Conquest, Hernán Cortés divided land in Mexico City around the Zocalo among his fellow Spanish conquerors as a reward for their loyalty. This particular site was awarded to Juan Gutierrez Altamirano. Fernando Altamirano y Velasco, descendent of Juan Gutierrez Altamirano, inherited the structure in the early 17th century. He eventually gained the title of the first Count of Santiago de Calimaya by decree from Philip II of SpainPhilip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
in 1616. He and subsequent Counts had great influence over the decisions of viceroys and bishops. These Counts were also known for their stylish dress and high living standards. The palace was built in the 17th century, replacing the older structures here, in order to show the family’s new socioeconomic station. However, not long after this, the family’s fortunes began to decline until Juan Lorenzo Altamirano Velasco y Flores, Count of Santiago de Calimaya had his property put into official receivership.
At this time, the viceregal government decided to renovate the deteriorated palace in 1777, giving the work to Francisco Antonio Guerrero y Torres, putting a lien on the building’s rental income. The Aztec serpent’s head that serves and the building's impressive cornerstone was probably uncovered during these renovations. Cost of remodeling the house was 130,000 pesos. During this time, the palace chapel was added, built between 1778 and 1781. At that time, it was common to attend Mass everyday but at the same time upper-class women were generally not permitted to walk on the streets to go to church. Many large mansions and palaces, therefore, had their own chapels with their own sacristies
Sacristy
A sacristy is a room for keeping vestments and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.The sacristy is usually located inside the church, but in some cases it is an annex or separate building...
. These families would have private Masses
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
said in their homes.
Until the end of the 19th century, the house was part of one of the main commercial centers of the city. Like many other mansions, the family rented space on the ground floor to merchants and rooms inside as living quarters. However, by the end of the 19th century, this area slowly ceased to be an area for the wealthy. More of the house was rented and adapted to lower-class tenants. The family tried to keep the upper part of the house for itself, but economic realities eventually forced them out of the house altogether to rent it entirely as tenements.
Description of the palace
During the colonial period, this palace was considered one of the most sumptuous in New Spain. The structure covers 2,762 m2, has a masonry foundation, thick masonry walls, and the facade covered in tezontleTezontle
Tezontle is a porous, extrusive, igneous, volcanic rock used extensively in construction in Mexico. It is usually reddish in color.-Uses:Tezontle can be mixed with concrete to form lightweight concrete blocks, or mixed with cement to create stucco finishes. Tezontle is often used as the top...
. The main entrance and portal are done in cantera, a grayish-white stone, as well as the central balcony. There are also frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
s on the facade done in basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
. The Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
portal rests on four clawed feet and mascaron
Mascaron (architecture)
In architecture, a mascaron ornament is a face, usually human, sometimes frightening or chimeric whose function was originally to frighten away evil spirits so that they would not enter the building. The concept was subsequently adapted to become a purely decorative element. The most recent...
s. It also has cannon-shaped gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
s, which could be fired, but only with permission of city authorities. The look that survives today is the result of remodeling work done in the late 18th century and was one of the last major Baroque projects in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. One of the building's most distinctive elements is the previously-mentioned Aztec serpent’s head, which was probably uncovered during this work. It is thought that the head may have come from the Templo Mayor and was placed as the cornerstone of the original house that was owned by Juan Gutierrez Altamirano.
Inside, the house has two floors with two courtyards, which was common with houses of Mexican nobility. The family's coat-of-arms adorn the arches of the main courtyard. One distinctive element of the palace is the fountain in the shape of a shell located in the main courtyard. Its deteriorated condition and the fact that there is little space between it and the windows near it suggest that it dates back to before the 18th-century remodeling. The focus of the fountain is a Nereid playing a guitar. It is possible that the marine motif refers to the sea voyages the Counts made to places like the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
The house had its own chapel, but only fragments of the facade remain in the structure today. One room that survives nearly intact is the music room. In the 19th century, music was one of the activities that the upper-class engaged in on a daily basis. European composers such as Franz Shubert, Chopin, Beethoven and Liszt
Liszt
Liszt is a Hungarian surname. Notable persons with that surname include:* Franz Liszt , Hungarian composer and pianist* Adam Liszt , father of Franz Liszt* Anna Liszt , mother of Franz Liszt...
were preferred but music by Mexican composers such as Tomás León, Aniceto Ortega
Aniceto Ortega
Aniceto de los Dolores Luis Gonzaga Ortega del Villar was a Mexican physician, composer, and pianist. Although he had a distinguished career as a physician and surgeon, he is also remembered today for his 1871 opera Guatimotzin, one of the earliest Mexican operas to use a native...
and Melesio Morales could be played as well. Music rooms were considered important during that time period to show the culture of the family.
The main stairwell is located in the main courtyard opposite the nereid fountain. The dogs that adorn the banister of the main stairwell and the mascarons over the main doorway have an Oriental look to them, which was not common in such residences. Partly because of this, it has been speculated that the wood and the labor used to create parts of the house were of Philippine origin. However, both the work and the wood are native to Mexico, although the wood is not very common.
Museum of the City of Mexico
From the end of the 19th century and through most of the 20th century, this part of Mexico City suffered a severe decline. This house was adapted to rent space to lower-class tenants and by end of the 1950’s had become tenements, in spite of the fact that it had been declared a national monument in 1931. In 1960, the Mexico City government acquired the building from the descendents of the Counts of Santiago de Calimaya in 1960. The City decided to convert this building into a museum. It hired architect Pedro Ramirez Vazques to remodel it, converting the old rooms into exhibition halls. In 1964, the Museum of the City of Mexico was inaugurated, focusing on what Mexico City was and what Mexico City hoped to be. However, by 1992, the Museum was in disarray. The museum closed and there were plans to convert it into lodging for guests of the city, but this never came to pass. In 1997, the Museum was reorganized and reopened dedicated to exhibitions about Mexico City’s past, present and future, working in cooperation with the Museo Nacional de AntropologíaMuseo Nacional de Antropología
The Museo Nacional de Antropología is a national museum of Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Calle Mahatma Gandhi within Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, the museum contains significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from the pre-Columbian heritage of...
, the Museo de Arte Moderno
Museo de Arte Moderno
The Museo de Arte Moderno or Museum of Modern Art is located in Chapultepec Park, Mexico City, Mexico. The museum is part of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes and prepares exhibitions of national and international contemporary artists...
the Museo de Virreinato and the Galería de Historia.
It has 26 rooms covering the evolution of Mexico City from Aztec times to the present. The permanent collection is divided into the following periods of time: the pre-Hispanic period, the colonial period (16th to 18th century), the 19th century and the 20th century. The pre-Hispanic room contains objects such as metate
Metate
A metate is a mortar, a ground stone tool used for processing grain and seeds. In traditional Mesoamerican culture, metates were typically used by women who would grind calcified maize and other organic materials during food preparation...
s (flat stones for grinding corn), jars, bowls, urns, incense burners as well as Aztec codices
Aztec codices
Aztec codices are books written by pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs. These codices provide some of the best primary sources for Aztec culture....
, maps and other objects showing the everyday life of people in the Mexican highlands of this time period. The colonial-era, 19th and 20th century rooms also contain everyday items from these time periods such as furniture, desks, tables, vases, and jars as well as arts such as sculptures and paintings.
The studio of Campeche
Campeche
Campeche is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in Southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the states of Yucatán to the north east, Quintana Roo to the east, and Tabasco to the south west...
painter Joaquín Clausell occupies several rooms in the upper part of the house. He lived there as the husband of Angela Cervantes, a descendent of the Counts of Santiago de Calimaya. Clausell received visitors in these rooms such as Gerardo Murillo (Dr. Atl), Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
, Carlos Pellicer
Carlos Pellicer
Carlos Pellicer Cámara , born in Villahermosa, Tabasco, was part of the first wave of modernist Mexican poets and was heavily active in the promotion of Mexican art and literature...
, Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo López was a Mexican writer, poet, playwright, translator, television presenter, entrepreneur, and the official chronicler of Mexico City, his birthplace and home. As a noted intellectual, he influenced popular perceptions of politics, media, the arts, and Mexican society in general...
and Julio Ruelas
Julio Ruelas
Julio Ruelas was a Mexican graphic artist, painter, draughtsman and printmaker. Ruelas was the principal illustrator of the Revista Moderna magazine and is most associated with Mexican symbolism. A number of his works are on display at the Museum of the City of Mexico and in the Zacatecas museum...
. The rooms contain 1,300 sketches by the artist including portraits of famous people, images of Christ, angels and animals and mythological scenes. These works show influences from the Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
and Symbolism
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
movements. The collection of works by Clausell include foreshortened figures that the artist made simply to clean his brushes. Clausell’s works are on display here due to an agreement between the Museum and the Museo Nacional de Arte
Museo Nacional de Arte
The Museo Nacional de Arte is the Mexican national art museum, located in the historical center of Mexico City. The museum is housed in a neoclassical building at No. 8 Tacuba, Col. Centro, Mexico City. It includes a large collection representing the history of Mexican art from the mid-sixteenth...
, where every two months, works by this artists are circulated between the two museums.
The Jaime Torres Bodet
Jaime Torres Bodet
Jaime Torres Bodet was a prominent Mexican politician and writer who served in the executive cabinet of three Presidents of Mexico....
Library contains approximately 10,000 volumes, mostly dealing with topics related to Mexico City. Its collection came from several sources including the 19th century newspaper collection, maps of the city from the city council reserve as well as original copies of laws passed by the city council. It also contains a large collection of books about the history of the city.
There are also temporary exhibits, educational programs for children and adults, a room devoted to the river system in the Valley of Mexico
Valley of Mexico
The Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations, including...
, a bookstore, and guided tours. One of the events recently held here was called “Beats & Bits,” which traced the origins of electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
from the beginnings of the 20th century to the present. Another event was an exposition of Mexican wrestling (lucha libre
Lucha libre
Lucha libre is a term used in Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries, for a form of professional wrestling that has developed within those countries...
) featuring photographs, costumes and other objects related to this spectacle.
In 1999, then-mayor of Mexico City, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, gave the keys of the city to Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
here.