Frutas y Castas: 18th-Century Colonial Art and Ethnography at the National Anthropology Museum

This exhibition, "Frutas y Castas," delves into a specific genre of 18th-century painting from New Spain and Peru that visually documented the racial mixing and resulting human types in colonial America. It highlights the scientific and ethnographic classification of both people and natural products, showcasing two complete series of these unique paintings.

"Frutas y Castas: historia natural y etnografía de los cuadros de mestizaje" presents a unique genre of 18th-century painting that emerged in the Americas, primarily in New Spain, as part of the broader Enlightenment-era interest in classifying the natural world. These paintings were created to illustrate the diverse human groups resulting from the intermixing of European, Indigenous, and African populations, assigning taxonomic and descriptive names to each 'mestizo' type. Typically presented as series of sixteen canvases, these works offer a graphic representation of genetic outcomes alongside a detailed classification and depiction of natural products, such as fruits and plants, found in the region. The exhibition showcases two complete series of these significant historical artworks. One is a Peruvian series, commissioned by Viceroy D. Manuel Amat y Juyent and of anonymous authorship, noted as the only known series from that geographical origin. The other is a highly representative Mexican series, attributed to the Puebla painter José Joaquín Magón, which was brought to Spain by Cardinal Lorenzana. Beyond their artistic merit, these paintings are valued for their scientific and naturalistic insights, focusing on the inherited physical traits and temperaments of mixed descendants, as well as meticulously categorized flora. The exhibition provides a rare opportunity to view these two series together, as they were historically displayed at the museum until the late 1930s, emphasizing their early naturalistic character and the recent restoration efforts undertaken.

Information regarding ticketing and admission for this historical exhibition is not provided on the page.