The collections that the Tecnológico de Monterrey safeguards include works of art and documents from different periods and origins, mostly related to Mexican history and culture. In this section we present the featured object of the month, that is, a work from our collection selected to spread among our students and the community in general. For more information regarding the works included as the featured object of the month and their availability for consultation, please write to: email@example.com
Carlos Mérida Americanism and Abstraction, 1978. Serigraphy Campus Estado de México D.R.© Carlos Merida/SOMAAP/Mexico/2022. Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey©
The Carlos Mérida was a Guatemalan artist who came to the post-revolutionary Mexican art scene where he explored the possibilities of geometric abstraction; his works interpret Latin American identity. He criticized the nationalism of the dominant currents of the moment and proposed extolling indigenous models through a geometric purism, focused on the aesthetic values of line, shape and color. In this work, the contrast between ocher and blue in the background highlights the simplification of forms. Mérida places us in a timeless space without spatial references, meanwhile, the figures are reminiscent of pre-Hispanic sculptures. Americanism and Abstraction, it is characterized by the geometrizing character of the shapes and strokes that compose it. Within the work, two silhouettes can be seen that represent modern man and his indigenous counterpart, projecting a connection between both realities of modern Mexico.
Royal Treasury against Doña Isabel de Castilla Altamirano for 827 pesos 1 tomín 7 grains worth 10 quintals of quicksilver, 1639. Historical Archive Fund of the Royal Caja de Zacatecas, 1576-1936, Colección Sociedad de Amigos de Zacatecas, A.C. in loan to Tecnológico de Monterrey®️. Memory of the World Registry of Mexico, UNESCO, 2021. Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey©
The distribution of quicksilver or mercury to clean the silver that was extracted from the mines, was in charge of the royal officers of the Royal Treasury and Caja of the city of Zacatecas. They, in their capacity as officials, received the quicksilver that arrived from Spain or Peru and distributed it to the miners. Some owners of mines had administrators who took charge of them, for this, they gave them a power of attorney so that in their name they could request and pay the quicksilver that was required in their haciendas for the benefit of extracting silver. As in this case, the one granted by Doña Isabel de Castilla Altamirano, widow of Juan de Zaldívar Cortés, was granted to Diego de Mora. The debt that was acquired by the quicksilver did not fall on the administrator, but on the owner of the mine, for that reason the obligation to pay for the quicksilver belonged to Doña Isabel de Castilla Altamirano.
This work is available for consultation in the Institutional Repository of the Tecnológico de Monterrey through the following link: https://hdl.handle.net/11285/639822
Likewise, we invite you to consult this and other documents in the exhibition "De la A a la Z. La Real Caja de Zacatecas" at: https://tinyurl.com/exposiciones-virtuales
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616) The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Qvixote de la Manche, 1697, Roger Velpivs edition. Carlos Prieto Fund “Cervantina Collection”, Library of Special Collections “Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra”, Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de de Monterrey ®️
This work by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was published in Brussels in 1607 and has been taken as a partial or total basis in subsequent translations and editions. This copy is the oldest Quijote preserved in the Cervantes Library of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, which was donated to the university in 1954 by Carlos Prieto. The arrival of the Cervantes Collection at our institution led to the founding of the “Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra” Special Collections Library.
This edition is the eight size, it retains its original parchment binding and contains dedication, privilege, claims and signatures, as well as Pitfirrane’s ExLibris. Roger Velpius prepared this edition with great care as it was based on the second printing by Juan de la Cuesta and corrected several of its misprints and inaccuracies. It consists of 52 chapters divided into four parts and includes, like all editions prior to 1615, only the first part of the novel. The importance of Don Quixote as the first modern novel in Spanish goes beyond a parody of chivalric novels, since it inaugurates the use of various narrative techniques such as recapitulation, the use of digressions and meta discourse, in addition to the introduction of other literary genres in the text and the construction of its characters, making it an endearing story for all humanity
This work is available for consultation in the Institutional Repository of the Tecnológico de Monterrey through the following link: https://repositorio.tec.mx/handle/11285/648309
Alonso de Molina (1514-1585), Here begins a vocabulary in the Spanish and Mexican languages, 1555, GRG Conway Fund, "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra" Special Collections Library, Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
Fray Alonso de Molina was born in Spain around 1514, arrived in Mexico as a child, and died there in 1585. He was the first ordained Catholic priest in New Spain and the first non-indigenous Nahuatl teacher. As a Franciscan linguist, he worked as an interpreter, in the elaboration of grammars, vocabularies, doctrines and in translations of works into the Mexican language. This book is the first vocabulary of indigenous languages printed in America, in the house of Juan Pablos and with licenses from the Viceroy Luis de Velasco and Archbishop Alonso de Montúfar, who were the second to occupy these positions, respectively. The work was revised by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún. This text includes metaphors, diversity of words from the different provinces and details of concepts that the indigenous people had and were unknown to the Spanish or vice versa. In addition, the text is completed with notices to facilitate its consultation, it explains about numbers and how to count. The printing of this work finished on May 4, 1555.
This work is available for consultation in the Institutional Repository of the Tecnológico de Monterrey through the following link: https://hdl.handle.net/11285/639187
Águeda Lozano (1944). No. 48-85, 1985. Acrylic paint on canvas, 116.8 x 116.8 cm, State of Mexico Campus, D.R. © Águeda Lozano/ADAGP/SOMAAP/México/2022. Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey ®.
Originally from Chihuahua, she studied in Monterrey at the Plastic Arts Workshop of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León between 1960 and 1964. Lozano moved to Paris in 1971 and began her interest in abstraction in the Art- Explora- Cité Internationale des Arts. In 2016, she installed a sculpture in Plaza México in the 16th District of Paris, thus becoming the first Mexican artist to exhibit on that site. Águeda Lozano's main concern is the representation of geometric spaces integrating organic elements such as curves, stains and textures. In this work made up of three red parallelepipeds, Águeda constructs, together with diagonals in sepia tones an organic shape that seems to tense the main lines that cross the image, a harmonic game that, associated with the title of the work, reminds us of musical compositions or perhaps in a veiled way a range of time whose limit seems to be, the year of creation of this work of art.
This piece is available for consultation in the Institutional Repository of the Tecnológico de Monterrey through the following link: https://hdl.handle.net/11285/639675
I say Doña María de Oñate Cortés, widow, women who was the field master Vicente de Zaldivar, Knight of the order of San Santiago, neighbor and miner of this city of Our Lady of Zacatecas, 1642. Historical Archive Fund of Royal Caja de Zacatecas, 1576-1936, Colección Amigos de Zacatecas, A.C. in loan to Tecnológico de Monterrey®. Memory of the World Registry of Mexico, UNESCO, 2021. Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey©
Maria de Oñate Cortés belonged to one of the most important families in the city of Zacatecas, she was the daughter of Juan de Oñate El adelantado, conqueror and governor of New Mexico, and Isabel Cortés Moctezuma. On both sides she descended directly from the founders of the city, on her father's side she was the granddaughter of Cristóbal of Oñate and on her mother's side of Juanes de Tolosa. When Vicente de Zaldívar Mendoza, her husband, died, María de Oñate became the curator and guardian of the possessions that her children would inherit, she as known in the city and in the Real Caja, as a miner. The importance of this document lies in the signature of this 17th-century mining and Zacatecan woman. This document is part of the Historical Archive of the Real Caja de Zacatecas, which is kept in Campus Zacatecas. The digitized document is available for consultation in the Institutional Repository of the Tecnológico de Monterrey through the following link: https://hdl.handle.net/11285/639903
Guillermo Meza, Óxido de plata (1989), Oil on canvas, 88.8 x 87.7 x 6 cm, Campus Estado de México, D.R. © Guillermo Meza/SOMAAP/México/2021, Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
Guillermo Meza made Óxido de plata (Silver Oxide) in 1989, an exemplary work of his, it has that peculiar atmosphere of something dreamed and half-explained. Meza paints mysteries and the human figure, but negated. There the characters are faceless, their identity is obliterated and that apparent blindness suggests to us a possibility to see beyond. Tinted with a certain surrealism, art critics in Mexico have called him "painter of the impossible". Silver oxide is the pictorial technique that decorates or adds a metallic effect, here necessary for the armor of our character. Guillermo Meza is remembered as a very shy man, reluctant to show off his talent, sullen when exhibiting his work. He was first discovered as a young talent by Diego Rivera in the early forties, the renowned muralist sent him to the gallery owner Inés Amor and while exhibiting in her store Igor Stravinsky, a Russian musician of international fame, asked him to illustrate one of his ballets. There he also met Santos Balmori, an important Mexican architect who hired him to work on his urban projects.
Dr. Carlos Molina Posadas, 2016.
Vicente Rojo (1932-2021), Untitled, 1973, Serigraphy, 57 x 50 cm, Campus Estado de México, D.R. Vicente Rojo/ SOMAAP/ México/ 2022, Cultural Heritage Collection of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
Vicente Rojo Almazán, was an artist born in Barcelona who emigrated to Mexico in 1949 where he studied painting, and for more than fifty years he developed as a graphic designer, painter and sculptor. He is considered one of the founders of graphic design in Mexico who collaborated and founded editorials, cultural supplements and various publications. Rojo is associated with the group of artists known as the rupture, however his most relevant contribution was in the development of graphic design in the Mexican publishing industry. This piece is an abstract four-ink silkscreen which belongs to one of the main series identified as Signs. In it, he explores the basic geometric shapes with a warm color range, clearly symmetrical and balanced with the central shape outlined by a blue stripe.
Yvonne Domenge, Clytia, 2000, Steel. Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
The sculptor invites us to look at that crossroads that would seem to not exist between science and art. Clytia is a monumental sculpture that is located halfway between the professional and high school areas of the Tecnológico de Monterrey at “Estado de México”, next to the tunnel that leads to the parking lots is the geographic center of the campus. Clytia in Greek mythology was a nymph of the sea who had fallen in love with Helios, realizing that he did not love her Leucótoe, took revenge. The gods, knowing it, turned it into a heliotrope. The title of the work adduces a sea creature that is ethereal, and its ungraspable love.
-Carlos A. Molina
Christopher Columbus, De Insulis nuper in Mari Indico repertis (Columbus' Second Letter), 1494. Salvador Ugarte Archive, Miguel de Cervantes Special Collection Library, Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
The document “De Insulis nuper in mari Indico repertis” consists of the second letter of Christopher Columbus. Its title translates to “The islands have been recently discovered in the Indian Sea”. This letter is addressed to King Ferdinand and Gabriel Sánchez, and is a Latin translation of the first letter describing what happened on the voyage of discovery. The letter was printed in several copies in Basel, Switzerland. This safeguarded copy in the Library of Special Collections “Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra” is preceded by the “Baetic History” of Carlos Veradi, whose printing date is April 21st, 1494. The importance of this material lies in being one of the first best-sellers of the time, through which the news of the discovery of the New World could spread, since the Latin version was the most circulated document across Europe as of its publication.
Leonora Carrington (1917-2011), Two figures with crows, n/d, Lithography 62cm x 47 cm GRA / 273. Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
Leonora Carrington was a descendant of a wealthy English family. Fleeing the terrible situation experienced after the capture of his partner, the surrealist painter Max Ernst, in World War II, she arrived in Mexico in 1942. Her work, considered surrealist, is loaded with the iconography of the Celtic tradition, modern literature English, and the indigenous folklore that she met in Mexico. This lithography portrays two figures that converse with crows that accompany them. The contrasting colors, from the nebula to the background, suggest a cave or a covered forest, and have an emblematic charge: both peculiarities of the painting are not incidental or decorative. Her work is committed not to reveal the keys to decipher and freely associate figures, motives, memories, and colors.
Cuaaderno de Memorias y sus aforos (manuscript) 1767. Historical Archive of the Zacatecas Royal Treasury, Cultural Heritage Collection of the Tec de Monterrey.
The value of a good for the payment of rights was a tax that was charged to the merchants for the products and merchandise that they brought into the cities, in this case Zacatecas. In the “Cuaderno de Memorias y sus Aforos” of 1767, the products and merchandise that entered to the city during that year, were registered. The annotations drawn up by the royal officers for the collection of the alcabala (tax for any product, merchandise, rent or trading in a city), were very prompt, since they append: day, month, merchant, quantity of products or merchandise per registration, price, the total of the product or merchandise and by last, the tax that had to be paid. All the sheets of the “Cuaderno de Memorias” are initialed or signed by the royal officer. This document is a part of the Historical Archive of the Zacatecas Royal Treasury, guarded by the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Zacatecas.
Irma Palacios. Memoria en bronce, 1995. Bronze cast by lost-wax (110 x 90 cm diameter) Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
The artist from Guerrero was born in 1943, from a young age was part of the group of creators after the rupture, who were interested in a more lyrical and international type of art, and sought to eliminate the pretensions of the movements or groups of the 60s and 70s. The work of this artist, belonging to the collection of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Memory in bronze, is interwoven with touches of lyricism and architectural structures, which force her to see almost hidden. The work presents a large body that appears to be stone, and two small masts that simulate branches of a tree. Her work has been cataloged as part of lyrical abstractionism, where the most notable precedent in our country was the artist Lilia Carrillo.
Gustavo Aguilar Beltrán, Fachadas de Textiles de Sonora, S.A., 1945, Gustavo Aguilar Beltrán Archive, Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
Textiles Sonora was a project promoted by the Rivero Solano brothers and designed by the architect Gustavo Aguilar Beltrán in Hermosillo, Sonora in 1945. This would become one of the most important cotton manufacturing factories in the country and would open many opportunities for economic growth in the region through the manufacture of local textiles. This image is part of the Archives of Arch. Aguilar Beltrán and is kept in the Tecnológico de Monterrey's Northern Sonora Campus.
Yolanda Andrade, El niño y el infierno, 1985, Gelatin Silver, 22 x 30 cm, Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
The rate at which Mexico City and Metropolitan zone grew up after the 70's and until the earthquake in 1985, date this photo was taken, was absolutely unexpected. The little boy which challenging look imprecate us since “El niño y el infierno”, taken by Yolanda Andrade (n. 1950), is one of those Mexicans of that apparent underworld. Her practice has always taken place at the streets, portraying the everyday life, teaching her students to look at bias, to see again what happens unnoticed daily. Andrade was a photography teacher at the Tecnológico de Monterrey. There, she taught to look and match statements about challenging conditions in the present with the construction of possibilities for the future. This work is in shelter at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in the State of Mexico - Carlos Molina
-Carlos A. Molina
Manuel Maples Arce (illustrated by Jean Charlot), Vrbe. Super-poema bolchevique en 5 cantos, Mexico City, 1924: Andrés Bota and Sons Publishers. Porfirio Martínez Peñalosa Archive, Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
Vrbe, written in 1924 by Manuel Maples Arce, is the most representative work of stridentism – leading avant-garde artistic movement in Mexico. This literary work adopts ideas of soviet socialism in the early 20th century and, at the same time, an aesthetic expression related to European avant-garde. It first edition was published in Mexico City and it has illustrations made by the French painter Jean Chariot. A copy of this edition is part of the Porfirio Martínez Peñalosa Archive, which is protected by the library of Queretaro campus. .
Arnaldo Coen, El sonido que disgrega, n/d, oil on canvas, 80 x 100 cm Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
Arnaldo José Coen Ávila (n. 1940) has worked diverse disciplines, wondering how are they distinguished from each other. He innovates in the media by adding technology to the practice of painting, making graphic descriptions about he structure of musical pieces, creating sculptures and making interventions in various museographies. El sonido se disgrega (The Sound Breaks Up), speaks of light beams that come and go from the surface of the painting to our eyes, decompose in a myriad of colors and remind us that the images we relate to music work in a very similar way: causing our perception to sharpen by noticing three dimensions. This work is part of Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultual Heritage Collection and is guarded in Campus Estado de México.
-Carlos A. Molina
José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) Skulls from the heap no. 2, 1910 } Zincography, 36 x 26 cm, Cecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) was an engraver, draftsman and illustrator of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries whose practically anonymous work has become part of the imaginary of "the Mexican." He was born in Aguascalientes, studied drawing at the Municipal Academy of Drawing in Aguascalientes and at sixteen years old he entered as an apprentice to the lithographic workshop of Trinidad Pedroza. At the end of 1888 he moved to Mexico City, to collaborate in the newspaper La Patria Ilustrada de México, where he learned the techniques of lead and zinc engraving. He worked in other workshops, however, his collaboration with the printing press of Vanegas Arroyo, with which he made the Calaveras del heap. These were loose sheets that portrayed the famous calaveritas written in verse, with which allusion is made to death in a wry and mocking way, taking advantage of historical or recent situations. In this image we appreciate a skull of a peasant and revolutionary, who holds a bottle of brandy, and who carries a serape. The verses tell the different situations of local people, the baker, the butcher, the pulquero, the shoemaker, however, the mention in two stanzas of Francisco I. Madero stands out.
Antonio de Salazar, Villancicos que se cantaron en la Sancta Iglesia Cathedral de la Puebla de los Angeles, en los Maytines de la Natividad de Nuestro Señor Iesu Christo, este año de 1684, Conde-Zambrano Archive, Miguel de Cervantes Special Collection Library, Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
This work dates back to 1684, it consists of an eight-page booklet in eight major formats and is probably the first edition of The villancicos of the Nativity. This specimen is pasted in miscellany of 16 villancicos from Puebla and has fire mars on the three edges. The cover consists of a baroque deign that represents the birth of Christ with the main elements: the presence of Joseph, Mary, Jesus, an ox that witnesses the birth, and the manger along with the Latin words “Gloria in Excelsis Deo”, words that according to Christian tradition, angels used to inform the shepherds of the new news. These villancicos were sung between midnight and dawn on December 25 of that year. The specimen is part of the Conde-Zambrano Archive and is found in the Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Special Collections Library at Monterrey´s Campus.
Jorge González Camarena, El Quijote en Monterrey (1954), oil on wood, 100x300 cm, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Special Collections Library, Campus Monterrey, Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection ®.
This artwork, presented in a wide, landscape format, shows an image of Don Quixote besides the Cerro de la Silla and La Huasteca, two of the most representative mountains of the city of Monterrey. Other highlights in this work include the characters of Cervantes’ classic novel: Rocinante (Don Quixote’s horse), Sancho Panza, and the Donkey. An image of a balance, as a symbol of justice, also appears in this painting. This work is held at the Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Special Collections Library, located at Campus Monterrey.
Hernán Cortés, Title of a land concession, made by Hernán Cortés to Bernardino del Castillo, his servant (manuscript), Cuernavaca, 1536. G.R.G Conway Fund, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Special Collections Library, Campus Monterrey, Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
A document dating from the sixteenth century where Hernán Cortés gave a portion of his land to Bernardino del Castillo. In this paper, we can appreciate the autograph signature of the Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca (Hernán Cortés), title which was given by Carlos V on July 6, 1529, as a reward for Cortes' services to the crown. This work is part of the G.R.G. Conway Fund, which includes several historical documents from this period and was collected by the engineer and historian George Robert Graham Conway. The original document is located in the Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Special Collections Library and the digital version of this document is available at the Tecnológico de Monterrey's Institutional Repository.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Villancicos a San Pedro Nolasco, 1677, Fondo Salvador Ugarte, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Special Collections Library, Campus Monterrey, Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage Collection.
This work dates from 1677 and consists of an eight-page booklet which is probably the first edition of the Villancicos to San Pedro Nolasco. This issue has a special interest, as it includes some corrections and comments in the margins and on the text written in ink by Sister Juana herself, as well as her name on the cover. The sample is part of the Salvador Ugarte Fund and is located in the Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Special Collections Library in Monterrey Campus.
Jesús Mayagoitia (b. 1948) Four Towers, 1991, painted iron. Campus Estado de México. Patrimonio Cultural del Tecnológico de Monterrey ®
Photo: Luis Enrique Sandoval
Jesús Mayagoitia is a world-renowned artist whose interest has always been quality in sculpture production and aesthetic education for all. He has always been interested in the various functions that geometric bodies project onto a plane, the way in which we perceive them in space, and how we relate with it. Cuatro Torres is a revolving sculpture whose pedestal has a motor inside that forces you to perceive from different angles the shapes and spaces it creates. Winner of the Henry Moore Prize in 1987, Mayagoitia is not only a creator but a promoter and teacher in Mexico since the 1970s at the National School of Plastic Arts, now the Faculty of Arts and Design at UNAM
Ramusio Giovanni Battista (1556), Terzo volume delle navigationi et viaggi...Library of Special Collections "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra,", Cultural Heritage of the Teconologico de Monterrey.
Ramusio, Giovanni Battista (1485-1557) was an Italian diplomat, geographer, and humanist of the Republic of Venice and is known as the author of the first geographical treatise of the modern era. He was part of the court of the French King Louis XII, where he served in french exploration in North America since the Republic of Venice at that time was very interested in sea routes to America. Delle Naviagationi et Viaggi is known as his most important work since it is the first modern geographical layout, published between 1550 and 1606. This work complies with various accounts of travel and exploration dating from explorations in classical antiquity to the 16th century. The copy shown is the first edition of the third volume; It belongs to the Salvador Ugarte fund and is kept in the "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra" Library of Special Collections, on the Monterrey Campus. A facsimile copy was included in the exhibition Visión de Anáhuac. Alfonso Reyes, held at the National Museum of Anthropology between December 2019 and March 2020.
José Reyes Meza (1924-2011) History of medicine, 1969, murals. Medical school, CITES. Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey ®
This mural was originally designed for the lobby at the headquarters of Farmacia Benavides in Monterrey. It was bought in 2001 by the Tecnológico de Monterrey; it represents the synthesis of the history of medicine from prehispanic to our modern times. In February of 2019, due to the demolitions for the remodeling of the campus, efforts were made to rescue the piece and relocate it to the medical school, CITES. Jorge Reyes Meza is considered among the last greatest muralists of the Mexican avant-garde. His work can be found in public and private collections in Mexico and the United States such as the National History Museum and the Phoenix Art Museum.
In the Revista Institucional Campus Cultural an article was published about the author and mural.
Bracciolini, Poggio (1476) Historia Fiorentina, Library of Special Collections "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra", Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
Bracciolini, Poggio (1380-1459) is known as one of the most eminent humanists and calligraphers during the early Renaissance. This author created the humanistic manuscripts which served as the prototype for Roman fonts for the new art of printing. Florentine History, published in 1476, arises from this author's interest in studying and compiling Greek and Latin manuscripts as well as the buildings and sculptures that led him to inquire more in his later years about the history of Florence. This particular book is part of the Incunabula collection of the Tecnológico de Monterrey. This work belongs to the Salvador Ugarte collection and is safeguarded at the "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra" Library of Special Collections of the Monterrey Campus.
Jorge González Camarena (1908-1980) Microcosmos, lobby of the Rectory Building, Monterrey Campus, Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
Microcosmos is one of the murals made as a diptych in the lobby of the current rectory. Both address the origin of life and the universe. The left side, Microcosmos, describes from the base of the mosaic the emergence of life from the earth and culminates in a human figure interconnected with the trunk and roots. The character's posture reminds us of the Vitruvian man of Leonardo da Vinci's study of ideal proportions. The arms of this figure, unlike the trunk, seem artificially designed and could be interpreted as the human tool for the construction of civilization. They frame the figure on the one hand with the representation of fire and on the other of water, which participate in the cycle of life together with the animal, plant, and mineral kingdom in the lower left.
Don Juan Vicente de Güemes Pacheco de Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo, count of Revillagigedo ..., viceroy, governor and captain-general of New Spain ... Having already dictated all the measures that have seemed most effective to relieve the short shops of the pension they previously suffered ... (printed decree), 1792. Historical Archive Fund of the Real Caja de Zacatecas, Amigos de Zacatecas Collection, AC in loan to Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
Juan Vicente de Güemes Pacheco de Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo, count of Revillagigedo, was viceroy of New Spain from 1789 to 1794. During this period he dictated different ordinances, the purpose of the viceroy was to restructure New Spain. To do this, he ordered a detailed study on the income that occurred in the viceroyalty. One of the branches that were regularized were the pulperías or grocery stores, and with this decree of 1792, all the owners of these businesses had to have valid licenses, keep records of their sales and present them annually to the authorities. This site in Zacatecas gave rise to the generation of censuses on the number of stores in the city and in the localities of its jurisdiction. The document shown is part of the Historical Archive Fund of the Real Caja de Zacatecas which is kept in the "Manuel Sescosse Lejeune" Library of Campus Zacatecas.
You may access the document with the following LINK.
Adolfo Mexiac, (1927-2019) Atrapando estrellas (Catching Stars), 1990. Resins and acrylics over wood and fabric. 100 x 100 cm. Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage®.
Mexiac was an engraver and painter from Michoacan, whose work is associated with the Mexican School of Painting and the Popular Graphics Workshop, as he was a member of both groups. He dedicated his work to represent the time in Mexico in which he had lived, and whom he unquestionably loved. The composition of Catching Stars is given in two main planes: the background and the character that holds diagonally some networks. It is a typical scene of popular look with a palette of cold colors which predominates in two-thirds of the piece (grayish ocher) and the lower third in blue, representing water. The nets supported by the main character stand out, the action of which reminds us of a fisherman from Lake Pátzcuaro, who emulates the sky. The reflections of the lights of the day of the dead could be the stars, which we do not see properly in the painting, nevertheless, we imagine with the transparencies of the water at the feet of the fisherman
Antonio de Salazar (1680),Christmas carols that were sung in the holy cathedral church of the city of los angeles, in the maytines, and festivities of the Nativity of Jesu Christo Señor Nuestro, this year 1680. Widow of Juan Borja, Library of Special Collections “Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra”, Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
Christmas carols are compositions used in the ecclesiastical sphere which meaning comes to life through the conjugation of music, poetry, and representation. In New Spain, these works played an important role due to their contribution to the dissemination of Christian doctrine. The works shown here were composed by Antonio de Salazar (1650-1715), who was appointed Master of the Chapel of the Puebla Cathedral in 1679. Salazar dedicated himself to composing sacred music and set various written Christmas carols to music., including some written by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz for different festivities. His works were recognized throughout New Spain and he is considered an innovator since he introduced songs in various literary-musical forms that were not common in America. The Tecnológico de Monterrey guards various Christmas carols, by Antonio de Salazar and other authors, including those that were sung in the Puebla Cathedral at Christmas 1680. This work is part of the Conde-Zambrano Fund and is kept in the Special Collections Library Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra at the Monterrey Campus.
Francisco de Alvarado (1593), Vocabulary in the Misteca language, made by the Fathers of the Order of Preachers, who reside in it, and lately compiled, and finished by Father Fray Francisco de Aluarado, vicar of Tamaçulapa, of the same Order, Printer: Pedro Balli. Library of Special Collections "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra", Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
Brief glossary made from the work of Antonio de los Reyes and other Dominicans. It contains information on the cultural material, social organization and the religion of pre-colonial times, as well as demonstrating how translations were forged for the ideas and technologies introduced by the Spaniards. This work collects thousands of words and is presented alphabetically with 18 of the 28 letters of our alphabet. The sample shown comes from the Salvador Ugarte Fund and is part of the 16th century Mexican Printed Collection, which has the Memory of the World Register, Latin America and the Caribbean Region granted by UNESCO to the Tecnológico de Monterrey in conjunction with the National Library of Mexico. This copy is kept in the “Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra” Special Collections Library on the Monterrey Campus.
Thomas Harriot (with engravings by Theodor de Bry, 1590), Admiranda narratio fida tamen, de commodis et incolarvm ritibvs Virginiae. Library of Special Collections “Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra”, Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
This work is an exemplary case that portrays how printed matter becomes relevant not only for the historical testimony offered by its texts but also for its artistic contribution as graphic work. The text shares as a report, the experiences that the English astronomer and mathematician Thomas Harriot lived off the coast of North Carolina during an expedition to the Americas organized by Sir Walter Raleigh. Harriot describes the social organization and customs of the native peoples as well as the natural and mineral resources found in those lands. The narrative was first published in English in 1588 with illustrations by the watercolorist John White; later in 1590, the celebrated engraver Theodor de Bry collaborated to edit a version translated into four languages that included engravings inspired by White's illustrations. The sample shown here is the Latin version with engravings by Theodor de Bry. This work belongs to the Salvador Ugarte Fund and is kept in the “Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra” Special Collections Library on Campus Monterrey.
Senior, confessional, in Mexican and Spanish language, Alonso de Molina, 1565, Salvador Ugarte Collection. "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra" Special Collections Library, Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey
The author of this work is the renowned lexicographer Fray Alonso de Molina, who came to New Spain from an early age, where he quickly learned the Nahuatl language; this facilitated their coexistence with the natives and made him a recognized Nahuatl teacher, despite not being a native speaker. This major confessional focuses on teaching doctrine to penitents. It was a manual for priests in New Spain in the original language with translation in Spanish and they used it to perform the sacrament of confession. This work dates back to 1565 and was printed by Antonio de Espinosa
Francisco López de Gómara (1554), Historia General de las Indias, Pedro Robredo Collection, "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra", Special Collections Library, Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
In his book Historia General de las Indias, Francisco López de Gómara, who was never in America, narrated from a Eurocentric perspective, the discovery and conquest of the new continent. The publication of this book ld the author to have several discursive confrontiations with Bernal Díaz del Castillo and Fray Bartolomé de las Casas. In 1556, by Royal Decree, its printing was prohibited in Spain largely because it magnified the figure of Hernán Cortés or because of the criticism directed towards the Catholic Monarchs.
America pars qvarta..., 1594, Girolamo Benzoni (with engravings by Theodor de Bry), Salvador Ugarte Collection, "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra" Special Collections Library, Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
Girolamo Benzoni was an explorer, merchant and traveler, who was in America for fifteen years (1541-1555). Upon his return to Milan he wroteAmericae pars quarta: sive insignis et admiranda historia de reperta primum Occidentali India a Christophoro Columbo. Benzoni narrates the process of evangelization and the attitude that the natives had towards the conquerors, as well as expressing his disagreement with the conquest of Spain over America, considering it an act of blood, death and destruction, but also shows horror at the anthropophagy of the natives. The first edition was published in 1565 and several translations were made of it in European languages, including editions in Latin, but not in Spanish. The first edition in Spanish was carried out until 1967 in Venezuela, then another published in Spain with an introduction and notes by Manuel Carrera Díaz would appear. The relevance of the work of Girolamo Benzoni was the introduction of the engravings made by Theodor de Bry.
Alonso de la Vera Cruz, Phisica, specvlatio (1557), Salvador Ugarte Fund, "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra" Special Collections Library, Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage.
Considered as the first physics book written in America, Phisica, specvlatio was published in 1557. Its author, Fray Alonso de la Vera Cruz, was one of the most recognized New Spain philosophers and was in charge of the first chair of philosophy created during the viceroyalty at the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico. The purpose of this work was to introduce the main concepts of physics to the "New World'', covering the themes elaborated by Aristotle. This piece comes from the Salvador Ugarte Fund and is part of the 16th century Mexican Impressions collection, which has a Memory of the World Regional Register granted by UNESCO to the Tecnológico de Monterrey in conjunction with the National Library of Mexico. It is currently housed in the “Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra'' Special Collections Library on the Monterrey Campus. The complete document can be consulted in the Institutional Repository through the following link
Diego García Palacio, Instrucion nauthica, para el buen uso, y regimiento de las Naos, su traça, y y gouierno conforme a la altura de Mexico (1587), Salvador Ugarte Fund, "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra" Special Collections Library, Tecnológico de Monterrey's Cultural Heritage®️.
Wrtten by Diego Garcia Palacio in 1587, this work was intended to apply the theories described in it. It is divided into four books or sections. The first covers the celestial and terrestrial spheres and studies navigation tools such as the nautical compass, the dial and the bastille, as well as the calculation of the hours of the day. In the second chapter the astronomical phenomena are narrated and the movement of the sun and the moon is studied, as well as the movements of the tides; It should be noted that the data was adapted according to the latitude of Mexico City. The third section focuses on the movements of the stars and how they affect humans. In the fourth and last section the construction of ships is discussed, considering the characteristics of the Pacific Ocean.
Jean Gerson, Tripartito del Christianissimo y consolatorio doctor Juan Gerson de doctrina Christiana (1544), Salvador Ugarte Archive, "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra" Special Collection Library, Cultural Heritage of Tecnológico de Monterrey®️.
The Tripartito… aimed to facilitate the preaching of chistian doctrine during the evangelization process. It contained a series of practical advices which adressed not only priests but also the secular community and even children. This work was originally written in latin by the French theologist and chancellor Jean Gerson (1363-1429). The edition of this spanish translation was ordered by Friar Juan de Zumárraga to Juan Cromberger, and was printed in Mexico in 1544. It is considered the first printed work in America containing wood engravings. The copy shown here is guarded in the "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra" Special Collection Library at Campus Monterrey and can be accessed trough the Intitutional Reposity: https://hdl.handle.net/11285/637123
Guillermo Ceniceros, Conmemorativo 2000 (2000), Steel sculpture, 22 x 4 x 4 m, Campus Estado de México, Cultural Heritage of Tecnológico de Monterrey®️. D.R. © Guillermo Ceniceros/SOMAAP/México/2021
This monumental obelisk was made by Guillermo Ceniceros Reyes, author of important public pieces in Mexcio, Canada and the United States. In the work, the artist chose to use the representation of faces seen in profile as an allusion to the students and teachers. It becomes emblematic as it has witnessed the passage from one century to another. This work was carried out at Campus Estado de Mexico as part of the construction project of the building that houses the theater, the Art and Culture workshops and the pool locater next to it. Recently an important restoration work was used based on the proposal of its creator, who emphasized color and contrast of the forms, the background and the context where the work is located.
Bono No. 31, Treasury of the State of Zacatecas, 1864. Historical Archive of the Real Caja de Zacatecas, Collection Sociedad de Amigos de Zacatecas, A.C. in loan to the Tecnológico de Monterrey®️
The extraordinary contributions were a resource that the Mexican governments used to cover the needs of the treasury, in this case, the war expenses that were generated before and during the Second Empire headed by Maximilian of Habsburg. This implied, among citizens, an extra share of the taxes that were charged for real estate, businesses or money orders, transactions and others in which the Public Treasury of the country was immersed. This document is currently kept in the Historical Archive of the Real Caja de Zacatecas, in Campus Zacatecas and is available for consultation in the Institutional Repository of the Tecnológico de Monterrey through the following link: https://repositorio.tec.mx/handle / 11285/637843
Adolfo Mexiac, Acarreando cempasúchil, Adolfo Mexiac (1993), Serigraphy, No. 280/500, 39.2 x 33.8 cm, Campus Estado de México, D.R. © Adolfo Mexiac /SOMAAP/México/2021, Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
This piece is the silkscreen reproduction of an acrylic painting of the same name. A skull is portrayed as a mother and her son, whom she carries on her back with a shawl, while carrying a cart with marigold flowers, an important flower on the altars of the Day of the Dead. Mexiac was an artist who was part of the Taller de la Gráfica Popular, where he profusely developed the different engraving techniques, especially with the intention of making his artistic imagination available to the people. Carrying cempasúchil, is part of a portfolio of engravings published by the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Estado de México in 1993, to celebrate this important Mexican holiday.
Arnold Belkin, Coatlicue, (1980), Mixed media, watercolor and colored pencils on cotton paper, 8.3 x 129 x 3.2 cm, Campus Estado de México, D.R. © Arnold Belkin/SOMAAP/México/2021, Cultural Heritage of the Tecnológico de Monterrey®.
Canadian artist, who inspired by Mexican art, decided to move to Mexico in 1948. He studied at the "La Esmeralda" School of Painting and Sculpture in the context of the Cuban Revolution, due to his inclination towards social art, in the early sixties, he became part of the artistic movement of rupture, Nueva Presencia. Coaticue, which in Nahuatl means "the one with her skirt of snakes", is a drawing made in mixed media technique that represents the goddess of fertility, life and death. This skirt is usually configured with a row of snakes, associated with the meaning of its name, however, in this work a network of internal muscles covered by wings that descend towards the feet is appreciated. In the center of the image there is a belt with a human skull that connects with both sides of the character, towards two stone serpents. In pre-Hispanic representations, two naked breasts are commonly added to symbolize fertility, in this case the artist presents an open throat, exposing the heart and its arteries, a symbol of life and reflection on the human condition.