A pendant triptych "Scenes of Christ's Passion" gilt silver, boxwood, enamels, hummingbird feathers Mexican 16th C. small faults, signs of use and oxidation without Portuguese marks, pursuant to Decreto-Lei 120/2017, of 15 September - art. 2, paragraph 2, letter c) Dimensões (altura x comprimento x largura) - 10 x 4 x 8 cm; Peso - 105,7 g. Notes: a similar pices integrates the Metropolitan Museum of New york's collection - vd
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/191598, seen on the 18/06/2021 at 14:15 hours; vd.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QQ1aKhDoBg; other integrates the British Museum's colletction -
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1889-0507-7, seen the June 21st 2021 at 11:37 hours.
NOTE:

Cabral Moncada Leilões registers and thanks Henrique Correia Braga for his decisive contribution to the identification of this piece and the sharing of the research he carried out, namely the location of the four other known similar pieces as mentioned below.

DEVELOPMENT
In addition to the astonishment caused by the detail of the work, this 16th-century triptych is all the more fascinating the more analyzed it is, since it solemnly expresses the time and the crossover of cultures from which it is the result.
Topped by a skull alluding to the vanity of earthly life, the structure of this object – made in a combination of gilded silver and enamels – contains six scenes of the Passion of Christ: on the left, the agony of Christ in the Garden of Olives and the mockery of Christ; in the centre, the Calvary and the Washing of the feet; and, on the right, one of the falls of Christ on the way to Calvary and the judgment of Christ in the Sanhedrin. These are compelling episodes for the Catholic faith, especially during The Holy Week, during which it would surely make more use of this small but luxurious, private devotional oratory.

The sculptures are made of boxwood – a dense and homogeneous material, ideal for meticulous work – in the same style in which, for example, the equally detailed prayer beads so in demand in northern Europe during the same period were conceived. However, the hummingbird feathers that cover the background of each scene transport the design of the piece to Mexico.

In the history of this country, the early sixteenth century is marked by the arrival of the Spanish settlers, among whom were Catholic missionaries, who also resorted to art education for their catechetical action. Thus, the ingenuity of native artists not only evolved but began to be channeled into pieces of Christian nature, such as the one that Cabral Moncada Leilões is now putting up for auction. Friar Jerónimo de Mandieta (1525-1604), in his Historia Ecclesiastique indiana (1956), describes the teaching offered to the indigenous people, speaking of the Flemish Friar Pedro de Gante (c. 1480/6-1572), who had created the school in San José de los Naturales, where the art of miniature sculpture was possibly taught:
“El cual no se contentando con tener grand escuela de niños que se enseñaban en la doctrina cristiana, y á leer y escribir y cantar, procuró que los mozos grandecillos se aplicasen á deprender los oficios y artes de los españoles, que sus padres y abuelos no supieran, y en los que antes usaban se perficcionasen.”

Feathers were already a decorative element frequently used in pre-Hispanic communities. The manufacture of feathers was especially exquisite in the region of Central Mexico, largely due to its sacred symbology, particularly linked to sacrificial rituals. The hummingbird feathers were, specifically, associated with the main god of the Aztec religion, Huitzilopochtli, and, therefore, the most suitable to be adapted to Christian-themed pieces, executed based on engravings brought by Europeans. Thus, the religious and sacrificial value that the feathers already held is, in a way, transformed and used for the exaltation of the religion brought by the Europeans, as an instrument of evangelization, as further evidenced by its use in the ornamentation of churches or processions.

Its iridescent colours – which time has softened – had enough impact to be able to further enhance the beauty of the sculptures. These, in turn, were the object of such detail that, even without resorting to polychromy, they still manage to convey to the viewer the expressions and deep emotion that arises in the scenes represented.
Finally, it will make sense to emphasize that this type of work was carried out in the century when Pope Paul III issued the bull Sublimis Deus (1537), recognizing the Indians as rational beings and capable of being Christianized. It is amazing to see how these works of art already convey the essential content of this bull.

The rarity of this piece is due to the fact that only four triptychs similar to this pendant are known to us: one at the British Museum; another at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, another one at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and another, finally, at the Melvin Gutman Collection.

Illustrating the above, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QQ1aKhDoBg [reviewed 06/22/2021 at 12:23 pm].

Text by: Isabel Maria Mónica