Mexican Altarpieces

Especially during the first evangelizing years, when there were not enough architects or imagineros (religious image-makers), retablos were painted on the nave walls of the churches. Some interesting examples of these remain. Elsewhere oil-painted canvas fragments have been preserved, which once were part of altarpieces of various sizes, some of them reaching to considerable heights. This fashion was more common than is usually thought, and it flourished from the sixteenth until well into the nineteenth century, following the ornamental styles of the day in every age.

In the era in which golden altarpieces were built, artisans were organized in guilds (i.e., artisans grouped by their trade). Each guild was organized by its own rules, and various studios could belong to the same guild. Each studio was directed by a master who accepted apprentices, each of whom would live for years in the studio learning his trade. The apprentices, in time and according to their abilities, became oficiales (officials), and when they finished their apprenticeship they acquired, through an examination, the status of maestro and could therefore open a studio in their own right.

The making of an altarpiece was contracted out to the "master" of the studio, who always worked with the help of his "officials" and "apprentices." In making such an altarpiece, various maestros would collaborate. There is documentation that a maestro retablero, for example, sometimes could chose the maestro pintor (painter) to work with him, but other times such choices were imposed on him. It also is known that a maestro could combine two or more skills at a time, which would remove the necessity of employing artisans from other studios.

To validate a contract between the patronos and the artists, the plan or mounting of the altarpiece had to be presented, endorsed by a notary. Any breach of the conditions by either party was punished by very high fines. The price of an altarpiece varied according to its size and formal wealth. When the altarpieces needed to be taken into the interior of the country, the cost of the mules to carry the pieces was stipulated, as well as the price of the blankets to cover them. The price of the altarpiece could be paid either wholly in cash or partly in cash and partly with an old altarpiece or some parts, or with separate sculptures from destroyed altarpieces.