Art Robberies in Mexico

Exploring Colonial Mexico©

The Espadaña Press Web site

Homepage | Archive | Publications | Story | Ordering

ART IN PERIL

TEPEMAZALCO. November 2007. As we reported earlier, the colonial painting of the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, stolen several years ago and found in the collection of a US art museum, was recently returned to Mexico. Now restored by INAH, the painting will shortly be put on display in Pachuca, the state capital of Hidalgo, before being returned to the church at nearby Tepemazalco (Hidalgo).

LIGHTNING STRIKES ! On July 1st 2007 a lightning bolt struck the thatched roof of the historic Santuario de Santa Maria Acapulco. The roof was consumed in flames and the church interior was completely burned out, a devastating loss to the community and Mexican colonial art.
ROBBERIES IN TLAXCALA. In March and May of 2007 colonial religious images were stolen from the parish church at Tepeyanco. These included figures of San Jose, San Martin de Porres and the Virgin of Guadalupe. Theft of religious art in Tlaxcala has risen alarmingly in recent months. Art works have also been stolen this year from nearby churches at Tlaxco, Zitlaltepec, Texcalac and San Lorenzo Tlacualoyan.
In a new Initiative, INAH has established telephone numbers for the public to report thefts of art and archeological artifacts in Mexico. It is hoped that the timely reporting of these robberies will discourage thieves and illicit art dealers, and hamper the sale of stolen objects. In the field of religious art, INAH noted that signed paintings, sculptures and statues, especially of the Virgin and archangels, are the most frequently targeted by thieves.
INAH, the Mexican national institute of archeology and history, recently announced that it would document and post pictures of its holdings on the internet by the end of the year, in an attempt to deter thieves. While this only represents a fraction of Mexico's vast artistic and cultural patrimony, it is a good start in the enormous task of documenting all of the nation's artistic and archeological treasures. Details
In a recent report, the Mexican Attorney General estimated that during the last 6 years upwards of 1000 art works and archeological pieces have been stolen in Mexico, with fewer than 10% being recovered. Details
A timely and beautifully illustrated new book, "Museum of the Missing", from Canadian publisher Madison Press Books, documents and exposes in an entertaining manner the shady world of international art robbery and its colorful cast of characters, especially in relation to well known stolen paintings.
The Cocom Codex, an entertaining recent novel by Nelson Reed, author of The Caste War of Yucatan, also illuminates the shady, often violent world of illicit trafficking in prehispanic artifacts.

OAXACA IN THE NEWS

Professional thieves took advantage of the recent upheaval in the city of Oaxaca (resulting from the teachers strike and occupation of the zócalo, or main plaza), to remove a historic 16th century work of religious art from La Compañía, the Jesuit church located adjacent to the zócalo.

According to Jorge Villa de Aguinaga, the resident priest, the missing retablo with its valuable painting of Nuestra Señora del Pópolo, was taken July 26 from the church workshop, where it was being restored.
The portrait of the Virgin was reputedly originally commissioned by St. Francis Borgia, the superior of the Order, in the 1570s especially for the Jesuits in Oaxaca. It disappeared following the expulsion of the Order from Mexico in 1767, only to reappear in the nearby church of San Felipe Neri.
The robbers appear to have known exactly what they wanted since other works of art being restored remained untouched. Officials of INAH and the Attorney General have been notified.

This was not the first robbery at La Compañía. Valuable silver crosses and candelabra as well as offering boxes have been stolen recently. La Compañía is not the only victim. In the past two years alone, more than 25 churches in Oaxaca have lost valuable religious art and objects to thieves. The widely venerated Virgin of La Soledad in the city of Oaxaca was stripped of much of her priceless jewelry, and 6 million pesos was stolen from the pilgrimage church of the Virgin of Juquila. In the illegal traffic in sacred art, nothing is sacred. story

Further to our recent story on the controversial removal of colonial art works from the church of La Natividad Tamazulapan, in the Mixteca Alta area of northern Oaxaca, the objects in question - three canvases and a small retablo - are currently on display in Mexico City as part of the exhibition, Imágenes de los Naturales en el Arte de la Nueva España. Siglos XVI-XVIII, sponsored by Fomento Cultural Banamex A.C. It is to be hoped that the art works will be safely and speedily returned to Tamazulapan at the conclusion of the exhibit. Check out our page on Tamazulapan.

PREVIOUS REPORTS:

During a recent conference in Mexico City (Encuentro Internacional para el Combate al Tráfico Ilícito de Bienes Culturales), the heads of several concerned national agencies met to discuss the recent increase in the theft of both archeological artifacts and colonial religious art. In addition to meeting the demands of local and national collectors, this trade feeds an illicit international market for stolen art that now rivals drug trafficking in its extent and lucrative value.

Among the initiatives proposed to deal with this epidemic was tighter enforcement of existing laws (Ley Federal sobre Monumentos y Zonas Arqueológicos, Artísticos e Históricos (1972) expediting the cataloguing of art works under existing programs (Programa Nacional de Prevención de Tráfico Ilícito de Bienes Culturales Muebles) and adopting advanced registration programs like those currently implemented in Europe. New measures involved the active participation of Interpol in this increasingly international traffic.

The wave of robberies of religious art continues, especially in areas near the capital: Mexico State, Hidalgo, Puebla and Tlaxcala.

Recent heists include the brazen seizure last month of two colonial paintings of the Virgin Mary from the 17th century church of San Felipe Zacatepec in the state of Mexico. These were especially revered by the residents, who had recently returned with the images from a pilgrimage to the shrine of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

The Bad News. The area northeast of Mexico City came under attack from art thieves again in June. Following the robbery at Tlachihualpan, which we featured earlier, we are sad to report another theft of colonial religious images, this time from the church of San Agustín Zapotlan, another village near Zempoala in the state of Hidalgo:

"On May 15th, the day after a funeral had been held there, attended by out of towners, the sacristan, Germán Castillo Vargas, arrived at the church in the morning to find the locks forced and the door ajar. Clothing that had adorned two of the saints, St. Augustine and John the Baptist, lay in a heap by the door and the statues were missing. In addition, an 18th century painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe was gone, hastily cut from its frame. To add insult to injury, the box for donations to the cult of Virgin had also been emptied."

The Good News. Officials of the Mexican agencies INAH, CONACULTA AND UNAM-IIE announced the long overdue establishment of the National Catalog of Sacred Art, a comprehensive archive designed to register religious art and objects of value in Mexico's churches. While the compilation of this register promises to be a mammoth task, the 15 million peso funding of the program should make the work of art thieves more difficult.

Security in the churches themselves is an even more pressing problem, and a regional initiative of "shared responsibity"was launched by INAH in Morelos, an area targeted by art robbers, to recruit and train local residents in the conservation and protection of religious art. (see our story on Pazulco, below)

Other initiatives are under way to raise consciousness in officialdom to help stem the tide of theft, including publication of the Manual of Prevention (see report below.)

Robbery at Chimalhuacan. On May 6th the 16th century Dominican church of San Vicente in Chimalhuacan, near Mexico City, fell victim to a daring robbery. Best known as the church where the noted 17th century Mexican poet Sor Juana de la Cruz was baptized in1671, it was broken into at night by thieves, who stole an early colonial painting and several religious images. The missing painting of Souls in Purgatory dates from the 16th century and was hung above the ancient stone font in which Sor Juana was baptized. Colonial statues of the Virgin of the Rosary, the Virgin of El Carmen and St. Anthony of Padua were also taken.

The art works were registered and Interpol and the Mexican Customs have been alerted. This area, to the east of Mexico City, has been the scene of numerous art robberies by organized gangs in recent years, nevertheless, no security or alarm system was in place at this historic site.

Look for our forthcoming feature on this historic colonial church.

Another robbery has been reported at Santo Tomas Atzingo, near Chimal. The victim of earlier art thefts, the church was robbed May 10th of an 18th century painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, as well as a portrait of Ignatius Loyola, the Jesuit founder.

Communities in the area of northern Morelos, a scenic region rich in colonial churches and monasteries close to Mexico City, are on alert following a string of robberies of colonial art - the most recent from the church of Pazulco, near the great Augustinian priory of Yecapixtla. Missing art works include a 16th century painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe and a gilded statue of St. Anthony of Padua. Following the robbery, officials from INAH and other conservation agencies met with residents and provided copies of a newly compiled document, the Manual of Prevention, designed to raise consciousness and inform locals on how best to protect valuable religious art and artifacts against the current epidemic of organized robberies in Mexico.

Montezuma's Headdress. On his forthcoming visit to Vienna, Mexican President Vicente Fox is expected to press the Austrian government for the return of Emperor Montezuma's plumed "penacho" or ceremonial headress, long held by the Austrian National Museum of Ethnology and currently on exhibit there.

Acting on a tip from an art dealer in nearby Chapala, a missing painting of the Mass of St Gregory, by the eminent Mexican baroque painter Cristobal de Villalpando, stolen in 2004 from the colonial Art Museum of Antigua, Guatemala, was recently found in the possession of a Mexican national in Guadalajara.

See our recent page on the theft and recovery of the sculpture of St. Francis from Tochimilco in Puebla.

Mushrooming art thefts are also closely connected to networks of organized crime and drug traffickers. The authorities are finally waking up to the dimensions of the problem, especially following the recent 20th anniversary of the great robbery at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City

Some churches, especially those near Mexico City have installed alarm systems. One such alarm, at San Miguel Atlautla, helped catch a thief who broke into the church late at nightand was about to make off with collection money and religious images. The alerted citizens, angry at this act of sacrilege, beat the robber and would have lynched him but for the timely arrival of the police. Nevertheless, such events might act as a deterrent to would be thieves. http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0820/p06s02-woam.html