Christ Teaching in the Temple

Christ Teaching in the Temple

late 1600s
Artist
unknown artist
Country
Mexico
Object
painting
Medium
Oil paint with shell inlay on wood panel (enchonchado technique).
Accession Number
1991.1160
Credit Line
Gift of Robert J. Stroessner

Unknown artist, Christ Teaching in the Temple, 1600s. Oil paint with shell inlay on wood panel; 11¼ × 14½ in. Gift of Robert J. Stroessner, 1991.1160.

Dimensions
height: 11.25 in, 28.5750 cm; width: 14.5 in, 36.8300 cm; frame height: 15 in, 38.1000 cm; frame width: 18.5 in, 46.9900 cm
Department
Mayer Center, Latin American Art
Collection
Latin American Art
This object is currently on view

During the colonial period in Mexico, a unique art form known as enconchado was invented and may be related to both pre-Hispanic shell mosaic and Asian shell inlay traditions. Enconchado panels and objects were inset with pieces of mother-of-pearl and then painted with oil paints thinned to a translucence, to allow the shimmer of the nacre to shine through. Various workshops in Mexico produced these stunning and unusual works of art.

This enconchado piece shows Christ in the Temple, an episode recorded in the gospel of Luke (2:41–52) in which the young Jesus impressed the temple elders with his advanced learning. It likely derives from a European engraving of the scene, though the source has yet to be identified.

– Donna Pierce, 2015; revised by Kathryn Santner, Frederick and Jan Mayer Fellow of Spanish Colonial Art, 2023

Known Provenance
Bequest of Robert Stroessner 27 December 1991 to the Denver Art Museum. Provenance research is on-going at the Denver Art Museum. Please e-mail provenance@denverartmuseum.org, if you have questions, or if you have additional information to share with us.