Artistic Geography and the Northern Jesuit Missions of New Spain

George Kubler´s seminal thoughts on artistic geography came out of his involvement with the art and architecture of the Hispanic New World. This paper examines a group of 17th and 18th century Jesuit missions in northern Mexico in order to expand our understanding of New World artistic geography, and also to explore the history of some geographic notions and their place in art historical discussions. Whereas Kubler was concerned with the transmission of styles, my interest here will be the movement of specific objects and individuals within a particular historical configuration. This will involve, of course, considerations about patronage and institutions, with some references to iconography, all of which ultimately has implications for the transmission of styles, as Kubler would no doubt have recognized.