The "enconchados" of the Conquest of Mexico in a Mexican museum: paintings or folding screen? The dilemma of an object

Abstract

In the National Museum of the Viceroyalty in Mexico, a "folding screen" of The Conquest of Mexico was installed as a simulation since the 1980s, unconnected with its material nature and history. The four paintings, made up of two boards each, never had the function of self-support and articulation characteristic of these pieces of furniture, nor did they acquire it when their assembly was simulated. This text presents the historical research and the contribution of unpublished documentary information regarding their location and arrangement in the Infantado Palace in Madrid, at the end of the 18th century. The analysis of its structure contributes to understand the intentionality of its authors, the different uses it has had throughout its history and the comparison with other similar sets of the same subject, in order to support the proposal to exhibit them as separate hanging paintings in the museum.