J. Michelle Molina
Northwestern University
BGC Fellow

Mexican Altar Scenes: Silver as Sacred and Profane
When Jesuit missionaries were arrested and expelled from Mexico in 1767, notaries working for the Spanish Crown were tasked with determining which silver objects had been used on the Catholic altar (that is, which objects had been touched by God). In her recently published book, Inventories of Ruin: The Demise of the Mexican Jesuits, in Three Acts, J. Michelle Molina explores how sacramental logics shaped the terrain in which colonial rulers and subjects alike competed for sovereignty. Her new research aims to understand the desacralization of power objects—the transformation of silver altarware from untouchable sacred objects to material patrimony of the Mexican state, housed in a museum of decorative arts.

Tuesday, March 31, 12:15 pm

38 West 86th Street, Lecture Hall
Tea, coffee, and snacks will be served starting at noon.
No registration required.