The Art of Marriage: Indigenous Marriage Policy and 17th-Century Mexican Marriage Paintings

One of the most important and central projects of the evangelization of Natives in colonial Mexico revolved around the issue of marriage and monogamy. Scholars have published on the issue for the early 16^th-century when conflict defined the introduction and imposition of the Catholic European marriage ceremony without divorce among a population that included polygamy (for the nobility) and the possibility of legal divorce. As the 16^th century progressed, the Christian marriage did gain some inroads in Native communities, but not without challenges and popular alterations to the nature of marriage relationships. The struggle to impose and further coerce official Church sanctioned unions and thwart ad-hoc divorces and serial monogamy continued into the 17^th century. Although such struggles were not exclusive to Native communities and their Spanish bishops and priests, paintings depicting the official marriage ceremony of indigenous people became popular exactly at this time and were one aspect of the “battle” over matrimonial customs. The paintings also serve as a precursor to later casta paintings of the 18^th century as they highlight indigenous customs such as the voladores and mitotes and clearly celebrate local communities.