Portrait of Cardinal Giulio Rospigliosi

The 'Portrait of Cardinal Giulio Rospigliosi', acquired by MUDEC in 2025, is an extraordinary 'emplumado', or feather mosaic, created by an anonymous 17th-century Mexican artist and depicting the future Pope Clement IX.
This refined technique of amanteca art is of great historical value. It involved applying one or more sheets of amatl paper to a copper plate, which was then covered with layers of colourful bird feathers. The fragility of the material, coupled with historical events linked to the Spanish conquistadors, resulted in the loss of almost all examples of this art form, making the surviving pieces even more precious.
Based on a long pre-Hispanic tradition, this particular technique was adapted in the Viceroyalty of New Spain for creating sacred Catholic images commissioned by the ecclesiastical authorities. Missionaries soon realised its potential as a tool for evangelisation and sent numerous examples to Europe as gifts for popes, emperors and sovereigns. These works featured in some of the world's earliest collections of wonders. One of the collectors of the time was Manfredo Settala, whose collection is partly on display at MUDEC. He owned some small amantechi artefacts, which are unfortunately now lost.
Cardinal Giulio Rospigliosi (Pistoia, 1600 – Rome, 1669) could be identified by comparing his portrait with one painted by Giovanni Maria Morandi in 1656 and located in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. The two portraits feature identical details and the latter was probably used as a model. Rospigliosi was the apostolic nuncio to Spain from 1644 to 1653 and was appointed Cardinal Secretary of State in 1655 following Alexander VII's election to the papal throne. He would later become Alexander VII's successor.
These objects are key to understanding the global relations between Italy and Latin America at the time, as mediated by the Spanish crown and ecclesiastical networks. Almost all of the surviving artefacts feature Christian iconography. Portraits of this type and size, which required several months of work, are very rare. The work recently acquired by MUDEC therefore stands out as a masterpiece of exceptional artistic, aesthetic and historical value.
This purchase was made following extensive research and rigorous due diligence regarding provenance, conducted with the approval and collaboration of the Mexican Embassy in Italy.