Plumarian art in the 19th century: the National Emblem, a new iconographic motive for Republican Mexico

Abstract

The ars plumaria, artistic manifestation born in the prehispanic period, continues to astound because of the delicacy of feathers and the high degree of perfection achieved by amantecas. Feathers were considered in Mexico’s prehispanic past a precious material related to aesthetic and religious symbolism, closely linked to the spiritual and ritual life. The amantecayotl, the technique of making mosaics with feathers, reached its peak of perfection in the sixteenth century and continued to flourish after Tenochtitlan’s conquest and during the Spanish domination, although during the nineteenth century only survived in small nuclei of production. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to the survival of ars plumaria in the nineteenth century through a first rapprochement to the Emblema nacional exploring its material features and iconographic motif. Also, it is proposed the revaluation of ars plumaria objects produced during the nineteenth century, whose study is still pending in the History of Art in Mexico