Gifts of Art: Frederick and Jan Mayer’s Lasting Impact

The Latin American art collection at the Denver Art Museum is world renowned for the breadth of the collection and the exceptional quality of the works. Outside of Mexico, it is the most comprehensive representation of Spanish Colonial art in North America. This would not have been possible without the incredible foresight and generosity of Frederick and Jan Mayer.

Before his passing in 2007, Frederick R. Mayer and his wife, Jan, endowed the Mayer Center for Ancient and Latin American Art at the DAM. Although the departments of Latin American art and arts of the ancient Americas have had many names over the years, the overarching mission of the Mayer Center has faithfully upheld Frederick and Jan’s vision of using the endowment to promote innovative research, publications, and, of course, exhibitions. Moreover, the hundreds of gifts of art from the Mayer Collection over the last 20 years have strengthened our holdings, making the DAM’s collection one of the finest in the world. This tradition happily continues with two recent gifts from the Mayer’s private collection: the Atrial Cross and Rendering of a Mulatta.

These two masterpieces from eighteenth-century Mexico are no strangers to the Denver Art Museum. Both were displayed in ReVisión: Art in the Americas which debuted at the museum in 2021. Following the show's closing, the cross became a familiar staple in the Latin American art galleries on the fourth floor of the Martin Building.

Atrial Cross

Crafted by unnamed Indigenous artists, the stone cross would have once stood in the center of an outdoor church atrium. A didactic tool for teaching the story of the Passion to new Christian converts, the sculpture blends European traditions and techniques with Christian imagery which easily borrowed from pre-Hispanic religions, making the newly imposed religion more familiar and appealing to new converts. Commissioning friars and Indigenous artisans attempted to blend Christian concepts with Mexica or Aztec beliefs, like the Tree of Paradise, resulting in the unexpected yet harmonious conflation of two visual cultures in the form of a cross.

While a few Mexican churches still have an atrial cross somewhere on the premises, such as the Augustinian Monastery of Acolman, many others have now been relocated, lost, or destroyed. The one in the DAM’s collection is the only of its kind in an American museum.

Rendering of a Mulatta

When the Mayers acquired Rendering of a Mulatta in 1994, the eighteenth-century painting had garnered global recognition as one of few surviving renditions of an Afro-Mexican woman. Painted by Manuel de Arellano, the Mulatta's distinct overblouse (manga), Mexican shawl (rebozo), and lace edged scarf proudly signal her mixed racial identity.

The inscription on the painting reads, “Rendering of a Mulatta, Daughter of a Black and a Spaniard in Mexico City, Capital of America on 22 August 1711," done by the artist to state the painting’s intention with undeniable clarity. Unlike society portraits which were meant to flaunt the sitter’s attributes and social standing, casta paintings like Rendering of a Mulatta were complicated recordings of a rigid system of racial classification which simultaneously rewarded and punished individuals for having mixed-race identities—all dependent on which races were mixed and to what degree.

Most often completed as a series and once believed to be accurate representations of the subjects’ lives and habits, historians now approach casta paintings with more nuance and in greater context. The genre rose in popularity in the 1700s resulting from interracial mixing, mostly brought on by centuries of colonialism. Partly to satisfy European curiosity about the so-called "New World" and the people who inhabited it, casta paintings are now considered to be mostly faithful in their depictions of cultural attire and regional flora and fauna.

While several other works from Arellano’s casta series can be viewed at the Museo de América in Madrid, this is the only known example in an American museum collection.

A Big Thanks

The addition of these two masterpieces into the museum’s holdings highlights the ongoing generosity, passion, and dedication that Jan Mayer has bestowed since Frederick’s passing. We continue to celebrate their extraordinary commitment to advancing the field and strengthening the museum’s collection. Thank you to Frederick, Jan, their son Tony, and the entire Mayer family for over 20 years of patronage and support.