The Murals of Tlayacapan: History, Technique and Materials

Abstract

This article presents a historical and technical study of the mural painting of the former convent of San Juan Bautista Tlayacapan (state of Morelos, México). Its purpose is to reconstruct the changes and alterations that the pictorial programs have experienced over time, focusing on the recent damage caused by the earthquake of September 19th, 2017, which modified the already precarious state of conservation of the spaces, bringing the murals to a point of “instability” bordering on ruin. Following an inverse itinerary, that goes from the collapsed fragment to the integral knowledge of the original spaces, we have developed a methodology derived from “technical art history” and material studies, based on the interrelation of the results obtained during the scientific analysis of the painting, along with the examination of historical sources and iconographic statements relat-ed to the meaning, function and evolution of images.