An eight panel painted folding screen, Mexico, late 17th-early 18th century

An eight panel painted folding screen, Mexico, late 17th-early 18th century<br><br>paper laid on canvas, depicting Ovid&#8217;s Metamorphosis<br><br>Each panel: height. 84 in, width. 23 3/4 in<br><br>--------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Paravent &#224; huit feuilles, Mexique, fin XVIIe-d&#233;but XVIIIe si&#232;cle<br><br>papier maroufl&#233; sur toile, d&#233;cor&#233; de sc&#232;nes des M&#233;tamorphoses d'Ovide<br><br>Chaque feuille : Haut. 213 cm, larg. 60,5 cm<br><br>Literature<br><br>A. Baena Zapatero; Jesus Ang&#233;l Jim&#233;nez Garc&#237;a, &#8216;Un Biombo de Ovidio: Estudio Material, Iconografico y Cultural, <i>Quiroga</i>, octobre 2022, nr. 21, pp. 158-170 et p.166<br><br>Catalogue note<br><br>This extraordinary screen is a remarkable example of the cross-cultural pollination present in the artistic endeavours of New Spain, specifically of Mexico. The use and shape of this screen have their origins from the Japanese <i>by&#333;bu, </i>and<i> </i>serves as an expansive pictorial surface for a hybrid classical narrative painting in European style based on Flemish prints, imbued with the local character.<br><br>Among the most sought-after and expensive luxury items in colonial Mexico,<br><i>biombos, </i>as they were called in Spanish,<i><br></i>derive from Japanese painted screens that arrived in Mexico City by or before 1598 with the Manila Galleon &#8211; a trade ship that travelled annually between the coastal markets of the Philippines, China and Japan, and the port of Acapulco in New Spain. The vessel transported screens, porcelain, ivory, silk, spices, pearls and lacquer furniture to be sold in Mexico City to the growing elite class of<br><i>criollos</i>. While<br><i>biombos</i><br>were lavish and decorative works of art, they also served a range of practical purposes in colonial homes, which often were not divided into separate rooms.<br><br>The present is notable as it encapsulates several scenes and episodes from Ovid&#8217;s oeuvre, in its majority from <i>Metamorphosis,</i> on an expansive multi-layered pictorial scenery. The iconography of this screen was studied in detail by Alberto Baena Zapatero and Jesus Ang&#233;l Jim&#233;nez Garc&#237;a in 2022, upon its discovery in a Spanish private collection<a href="#_edn1" rel="noopener noreferrer">[i]</a>. They have identified as the source for these scenes the engravings by Pieter Philippe for Ovid&#8217;s <i>Opera Omnia</i> published by Petrum Leiden in 1662. The engravings might have reached New Spain through loose plates, a fact which is revealed by the haphazard nature of the episode&#8217;s sequence, where there is an un-hierarchical display of themes, in a complex and engaging narrative. The incredibly rich multi-layered composition reminds the iconic <i>biombos</i> depicting the Conquest of Mexico such as the one offered Sotheby&#8217;s New York, 1^st November 2019. The richness of content and its sophisticated nature might imply a specific commission, and the owner of such could present himself as part of a highly cultivated elite.<br><br>Zapatero and Garcia underline the fact that the flora depicted in this screen doesn&#8217;t mimic accurately what is represented in the engravings but adopts local trees and bushes (such as (such as ahuejote &#8211; a type of willow tree &#8211; Mexican marigold and agave), reflecting the local surroundings, in another episode of cultural amalgamation<a href="#_edn2" rel="noopener noreferrer">[ii]</a>.<br><br>The painting is framed by a golden border, with ornamental geometrically floral-patterned bands to top and bottom, mimicking the structure of many Japanese screens. The pattern resembles stylised floral motif of &#8216;hana-bishi&#8217;.<br><br>The first locally painted New Spain screens are documented from 1630, decades before this type appears in Europe, and screens did were also produced in painted wood, sharing craftsmen with the furniture trade. In the case of screens on canvas, it is very likely that this craft would allow for an expansion of opportunities to &#8220;traditional&#8221; painters and that there would be really no boundaries between the <i>metiers</i>. As an example, the famous Miguel Cabrera is thought to have painted screens such as the one at the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City depicting Meleager and Atalanta offering Diana the head of a Calydonian boar.<br><br>Intended for domestic use, the screen&#8217;s innovative format allowed artists to break from the conformity of religious iconography and devotional painting and became a preferred choice for the representation of mythological and historical scenes.<br><br><a href="#_ednref1" rel="noopener noreferrer">[i]</a> Alberto Baena Zapatero; Jesus Ang&#233;l Jim&#233;nez Garc&#237;a, &#8216;Un Biombo de Ovidio: Estudio Material, Iconografico y Cultural, in <i>Quiroga</i>, October 2022, nr. 21, pp. 158-170.<br><br><a href="#_ednref2" rel="noopener noreferrer">[ii]</a> Idem, p. 166.<br><br>Cet extraordinaire paravent est un exemple remarquable de les &#233;changes interculturels artistiques de la Nouvelle Espagne, en particulier du Mexique. L'utilisation et la forme de ce paravent trouvent leur origine dans le by&#333;bu japonais et servent de support pour une peinture narrative de style europ&#233;en, d'apr&#232;s des estampes flamandes, impr&#233;gn&#233;e du caract&#232;re local.<br><br>Parmi les objets de luxe les plus recherch&#233;s et les plus chers du Mexique colonial, les <i>biombos</i>, comme on les appelait en espagnol, proviennent de paravents peints japonais arriv&#233;s &#224; Mexico avant 1598 avec <i>le galion de Manille</i> - navire de commerce qui voyageait chaque ann&#233;e entre les march&#233;s c&#244;tiers des Philippines, de la Chine et du Japon, et le port d'Acapulco, en Nouvelle-Espagne. Le navire transportait des paravents, de la porcelaine, de l'ivoire, de la soie, des &#233;pices, des perles et des meubles en laque destin&#233;s &#224; &#234;tre vendus &#224; Mexico &#224; l'&#233;lite grandissante des <i>criollos</i>. Si les <i>biombos</i> &#233;taient des &#339;uvres d'art somptueuses et d&#233;coratives, ils avaient &#233;galement toute une s&#233;rie de fonctions pratiques dans les maisons coloniales, qui n'&#233;taient souvent pas divis&#233;es en pi&#232;ces distinctes.<br><br>Notre paravent est remarquable car il repr&#233;sente plusieurs sc&#232;nes et &#233;pisodes de l'&#339;uvre d'Ovide, en majorit&#233; des M&#233;tamorphoses, dans un vaste d&#233;cor pictural. L'iconographie de cet &#233;cran a &#233;t&#233; &#233;tudi&#233; en d&#233;tail par Alberto Baena Zapatero et Jesus Ang&#233;l Jim&#233;nez Garc&#237;a en 2022, lors de sa d&#233;couverte dans une collection priv&#233;e espagnole[i]. Ils ont identifi&#233; comme source de ces sc&#232;nes les gravures de Pieter Philippe pour l'<i>Opera Omnia</i> d'Ovide publi&#233; par Petrum Leiden en 1662. Il est possible que les gravures soient parvenues en Nouvelle-Espagne par le biais de planches d&#233;tach&#233;es,