I spent most of last week in Denver, where I finally had the chance to see the Denver Art Museum’s truly fine collection of Spanish Colonial Art. It encompasses art from the 16th century through modern work done by “santeros” in New Mexico. I didn’t see any Nativity figures, although there was certainly much statuary in general and some Nativity-themed paintings. The work comes from Mexico, Quito, Cuzco, and other great colonial cities famous for their workshops. As we all know, the famous figures displayed every year at the monastery known as Las Carboneras in Madrid are from Quito, and Quito was particularly well-known for its carving and sculpture.
These two paintings depict the Adoration of the Shepherds. The upper work was painted in Mexico in the 17th century by Nicolás Rodríguez Juárez, and the second is an 18th century painting from Potosi, Bolivia, by Gaspar Miguel de Berrio. The collection is beautifully curated and displayed. You can get a glimpse of other things in their collection at the museum’s website.
I checked out Denver’s Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, located in downtown Denver not too far from the Statehouse. The building was completed in 1911 and consecrated in 1921 and has spectacular stained glass windows. They were created in Munich, Germany by F.X. Zettler at the Royal Bavarian Art Institute, which was destroyed in the bombing during WW II. I found a Nativity scene, but by far the most spectacular window was this one of the Immaculate Conception.