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ART IN PERIL
Grave Robbery
in Merida
This charming funerary
monument was stolen
from the cemetery in Mérida, Yucatán, in February
2009. It is still missing. Anyone with any information is urged
to contact the authorities.
Coixtlahuaca
2008
This magnificent
16th century Dominican priory, located in the Mixteca region
of Oaxaca, is under siege. Because
of structural damage and general deterioration, the vast colonial
main altarpiece has been disassambled, and the paintings by 16th
century master Andrés de la Concha removed for restoration.
In addition,
visitors are currently not permitted inside the church because
of the renewed threat of roof collapse, owing to cracked vaults
- one result of the powerful 1999 earthquake in the region. Currently,
reconstruction of the tower continues.
Colonial
church collapses. July 2008
The Mission
of San José is one of the oldest structures in the
Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, built around 1785.
Hit by unusual
amounts of rain last week, after Hurricane Dolly hit the Gulf
Coast on Wednesday, the church collapsed after its ancient adobe
walls became soaked.
Church superintendent
Jesus Castillo Martinez reported that the church's front and
side walls are now rubble, and although some of the church's
religious images and paintings were saved, others were lost or
remain buried in the rubble. Fortunately, the centuries-old church
was empty at the time of the collapse over the weekend and no
injuries have been reported.
Yucatan.
A dispute between archeologists
over a newly discovered, potentially large and important Maya
city, located in the "southern cone" of the state of
Yucatan, threatens to cut off funding for the project. This could
preclude further investigation and more importantly, adequate
security for the uncovered monuments, which include a number
of carved Maya stelae - invaluable works of art and documentation
that would be at high risk of theft at the hands of international
art robbers.
- San Miguel
de Allende, May 2008
The epidemic
of art thefts in Mexico continues. On May 21, 2008 thieves broke
into the sacristy of the church of Santa Ana in this popular
tourist town where they cut seven colonial paintings from their
frames. Although details of the stolen art works are not currently
available, they were listed with INAH, and local authorities
are vigorously investigating the theft with the hope of recovering
the missing paintings.
Licenciado Ignacio
Reyes Retana Pérez Gil of the "Amigos de San Miguel"
condemned the loss and called for greater security measures in
local churches.
The church of
Santa
Ana,
located next to the public library in San Miguel, was founded
in the 17th century as part of a convent and college for cloistered
nuns.
- TEPEMAZALCO.
November 2007. As
we reported earlier, the colonial painting of the Expulsion
from the Garden of Eden, stolen several years ago and found in the collection
of a US art museum, was recently returned to Mexico. Now restored
by INAH, the painting will shortly be put on display in Pachuca,
the state capital of Hidalgo, before being returned to the church
at nearby Tepemazalco (Hidalgo).
- LIGHTNING
STRIKES ! On
July 1st 2007 a lightning bolt struck the thatched roof of the
newly restored, historic Santuario
de Santa Maria Acapulco. The roof of the famous indigenous mission in
San Luis Potosí was consumed in flames and the church
interior was completely burned out, a devastating loss to the
community and Mexican colonial art. It was noted that the facade
statues of St. Francis and St. Michael vanquishing the devil
were destroyed, with only the devils surviving the holocaust!
- ROBBERIES
IN TLAXCALA.
In March and May of 2007 colonial religious images were stolen
from the parish church at Tepeyanco. These included figures of
San Jose, San Martin de Porres and the Virgin of Guadalupe. Theft
of religious art in Tlaxcala has risen alarmingly in recent months.
Art works have also been stolen this year from nearby churches
at Tlaxco, Zitlaltepec, Texcalac and San Lorenzo Tlacualoyan.
- In a new Initiative,
INAH has established telephone numbers for the public
to report thefts of art and archeological artifacts in Mexico.
It is hoped that the timely reporting of these robberies will
discourage thieves and illicit art dealers, and hamper the sale
of stolen objects. In the field of religious art, INAH
noted that signed paintings, sculptures and statues, especially
of the Virgin and archangels, are the most frequently targeted
by thieves.
- INAH, the Mexican national institute of archeology and
history, recently announced that it would document and post pictures
of its holdings on the internet by the end of the year, in an
attempt to deter thieves. While this only represents a fraction
of Mexico's vast artistic and cultural patrimony, it is a good
start in the enormous task of documenting all of the nation's
artistic and archeological treasures.
- In a recent
report, the Mexican Attorney General estimated that during the
last 6 years upwards of 1000 art works and archeological pieces
have been stolen in Mexico, with fewer than 10% being recovered.
- A timely and
beautifully illustrated new book, "Museum of
the Missing",
from Canadian publisher Madison Press Books, documents and exposes
in an entertaining manner the shady world of international art
robbery and its colorful cast of characters, especially in relation
to well known stolen paintings.
- The
Cocom Codex,
an entertaining recent novel by Nelson Reed, author of The
Caste War of Yucatan, also illuminates the shady, often violent world
of illicit trafficking in prehispanic artifacts.
OAXACA IN
THE NEWS
Professional
thieves took advantage of the recent upheaval in the city of
Oaxaca (resulting from the teachers strike and occupation
of the zócalo, or main plaza), to remove a historic
16th century work of religious art from La Compañía,
the Jesuit church located adjacent to the zócalo.
According to
Jorge Villa de Aguinaga, the resident priest, the missing retablo
with its valuable painting of Nuestra Señora del Pópolo,
was taken July 26 from the church workshop, where it was being
restored.
The portrait of the Virgin was reputedly originally commissioned
by St. Francis Borgia, the superior of the Order, in the
1570s especially for the Jesuits in Oaxaca. It disappeared following
the expulsion of the Order from Mexico in 1767, only to reappear
in the nearby church of San Felipe Neri.
The robbers appear to have known exactly what they wanted since
other works of art being restored remained untouched. Officials
of INAH and the Attorney General have been notified.
This was not
the first robbery at La Compañía. Valuable silver
crosses and candelabra as well as offering boxes have been stolen
recently. La Compañía is not the only victim. In
the past two years alone, more than 25 churches in Oaxaca have
lost valuable religious art and objects to thieves. The widely
venerated Virgin of La Soledad in the city of Oaxaca was
stripped of much of her priceless jewelry, and 6 million pesos
was stolen from the pilgrimage church of the Virgin of Juquila.
In the illegal traffic in sacred art, nothing is sacred.
Further to our
recent story on the controversial removal of colonial art works
from the church of La Natividad Tamazulapan, in the Mixteca
Alta area of northern Oaxaca, the objects in question - three
canvases and a small retablo - are currently on display in Mexico
City as part of the exhibition, Imágenes de los Naturales
en el Arte de la Nueva España. Siglos XVI-XVIII, sponsored
by Fomento Cultural Banamex A.C. It is to be hoped that the art
works will be safely and speedily returned to Tamazulapan at
the conclusion of the exhibit. Check out our page on Tamazulapan.
PREVIOUS
REPORTS:
During a recent
conference in Mexico City (Encuentro
Internacional para el Combate al Tráfico Ilícito
de Bienes Culturales),
the heads of several concerned national agencies met to discuss
the recent increase in the theft of both archeological artifacts
and colonial religious art. In addition to meeting the demands
of local and national collectors, this trade feeds an illicit
international market for stolen art that now rivals drug trafficking
in its extent and lucrative value.
Among the initiatives
proposed to deal with this epidemic was tighter enforcement of
existing laws (Ley Federal
sobre Monumentos y Zonas Arqueológicos, Artísticos
e Históricos (1972) expediting the cataloguing of art works under
existing programs (Programa
Nacional de Prevención de Tráfico Ilícito
de Bienes Culturales Muebles) and adopting advanced
registration programs like those currently implemented in Europe.
New measures involved the active participation of Interpol in
this increasingly international traffic.
The wave of
robberies of religious art continues, especially in areas near
the capital: Mexico State, Hidalgo, Puebla and Tlaxcala.
Recent heists
include the brazen seizure last month of two colonial paintings
of the Virgin Mary from the 17th century church of San Felipe
Zacatepec in the state of Mexico. These were especially revered
by the residents, who had recently returned with the images from
a pilgrimage to the shrine of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
The Bad
News.
The area northeast of Mexico City came under attack from art
thieves again in June. Following the robbery at Tlachihualpan, which we featured
earlier, we are sad to report another theft of colonial religious
images, this time from the church of San Agustín Zapotlan,
another village near Zempoala in the state of Hidalgo:
"On May
15th, the day after a funeral had been held there, attended by
out of towners, the sacristan, Germán Castillo Vargas,
arrived at the church in the morning to find the locks forced
and the door ajar. Clothing that had adorned two of the saints,
St. Augustine and John the Baptist, lay in a heap by the door
and the statues were missing. In addition, an 18th century painting
of the Virgin of Guadalupe was gone, hastily cut from its frame.
To add insult to injury, the box for donations to the cult of
Virgin had also been emptied."
The Good
News.
Officials of the Mexican agencies INAH, CONACULTA AND UNAM-IIE
announced the long overdue establishment of the National Catalog
of Sacred Art, a comprehensive archive designed to register
religious art and objects of value in Mexico's churches. While
the compilation of this register promises to be a mammoth task,
the 15 million peso funding of the program should make the work
of art thieves more difficult.
Security in
the churches themselves is an even more pressing problem, and
a regional initiative of "shared responsibity"was launched
by INAH in Morelos, an area targeted by art robbers, to recruit
and train local residents in the conservation and protection
of religious art. (see our story on Pazulco, below)
Other initiatives
are under way to raise consciousness in officialdom to help stem
the tide of theft, including publication of the Manual of Prevention
(see report below.)
Robbery
at Chimalhuacan. On
May 6th the 16th century Dominican church of San Vicente
in Chimalhuacan, near Mexico City, fell victim to a daring robbery.
Best known as the church where the noted 17th century Mexican
poet Sor Juana de la Cruz was baptized in1671, it was
broken into at night by thieves, who stole an early colonial
painting and several religious images. The missing painting of
Souls in Purgatory dates from the 16th century and was
hung above the ancient stone font in which Sor Juana was baptized.
Colonial statues of the Virgin of the Rosary, the Virgin of El
Carmen and St. Anthony of Padua were also taken.
The art works
were registered and Interpol and the Mexican Customs have been
alerted. This area, to the east of Mexico City, has been the
scene of numerous art robberies by organized gangs in recent
years, nevertheless, no security or alarm system was in place
at this historic site.
Look for our
forthcoming feature on this historic colonial church.
Another robbery
has been reported at Santo Tomas Atzingo, near Chimal.
The victim of earlier art thefts, the church was robbed May 10th
of an 18th century painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, as well
as a portrait of Ignatius Loyola, the Jesuit founder.
Communities
in the area of northern Morelos, a scenic region rich
in colonial churches and monasteries close to Mexico City, are
on alert following a string of robberies of colonial art - the
most recent from the church of Pazulco, near the great Augustinian
priory of Yecapixtla. Missing art works include a 16th century
painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe and a gilded statue of St.
Anthony of Padua. Following the robbery, officials from INAH
and other conservation agencies met with residents and provided
copies of a newly compiled document, the Manual of Prevention,
designed to raise consciousness and inform locals on how best
to protect valuable religious art and artifacts against the current
epidemic of organized robberies in Mexico.
Montezuma's
Headdress.
On his forthcoming visit to Vienna, Mexican President Vicente
Fox is expected to press the Austrian government for the return
of Emperor
Montezuma's plumed "penacho" or ceremonial headress, long held by the Austrian
National Museum of Ethnology and currently on exhibit there.
Acting on a
tip from an art dealer in nearby Chapala, a missing painting
of the Mass of St Gregory, by the eminent Mexican baroque painter
Cristobal de Villalpando, stolen in 2004 from the colonial
Art Museum of Antigua, Guatemala, was recently found in the possession
of a Mexican national in Guadalajara.
See our recent
page on the theft and recovery of the sculpture of St. Francis
from Tochimilco in Puebla.
Mushrooming
art thefts are also closely connected to networks of organized
crime and drug traffickers. The authorities are finally waking
up to the dimensions of the problem, especially following the
recent 20th anniversary of the great robbery at the Museum of
Anthropology in Mexico City
Some churches,
especially those near Mexico City have installed alarm systems.
One such alarm, at San
Miguel Atlautla,
helped catch a thief who broke into the church late at nightand
was about to make off with collection money and religious images.
The alerted citizens, angry at this act of sacrilege, beat the
robber and would have lynched him but for the timely arrival
of the police. Nevertheless, such events might act as a deterrent
to would be thieves. http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0820/p06s02-woam.html
