The Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

located in the historic center of

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. It is housed in what was the Palacio del Arzobispado (Palace of the Archbishopric), built in 1530 under Friar Juan de Zumárraga on the base of the destroyed pyramid dedicated to the Aztec god

Tezcatlipoca Tezcatlipoca ( ) or Tezcatl Ipoca was a central deity in Aztec religion. He is associated with a variety of concepts, including the night sky, hurricanes, obsidian, and conflict. He was considered one of the four sons of Ometecuhtli and Omec ...

. It remained the archbishphoric until 1867 when the Finance Ministry Accountancy Department was established there. The modern museum houses an exhibit dedicated to this god as well as a large art collection.

History

The building was the colonial archbishop's palace and contains two stone-columned courtyards. In 1530, Friar Juan de Zumárraga became the first

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, which at that time included most of the Americas and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He decided to place the see in two houses near where the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

would later be built. After initial adaptation, two structures were added: one to cast bells and the other served as a prison. The structure continued to be modified until 1771 when it attained the appearance still seen today. The complex is topped by a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

on with inverted arches are combined with

merlon A merlon is the solid, upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications. Merlons are sometimes pierced by narrow, vertical embrasures, or tooth-like slits designed for observation and fire. The sp ...

s. Two

estipite The estipite column is a type of pilaster used in buildings in the Mannerism, Mannerist and Baroque styles,a moment when many classical architectural elements lost their simple shapes and became increasingly complex, offering a variety of forms ...

columns flank the bay of the portal, through which the highest ecclesiastical authorities of colonial times once passed. Remnants of the pyramid of Tezcatlipoca can be seen on the ground floor. This is because of a restoration project concluded in 1997. Along with restoring the colonial building, two excavations were carried out to expose details of the pre-Hispanic structures. Imprisoned here was one of the first conspirators for

Mexican Independence The Mexican War of Independence (, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from the Spanish Empire. It was not a single, coherent event, but local and regional ...

, Francisco Primo de Verdad y Ramos, who died here in 1808. PatioSHCPMuseum

Museum

The modern museum houses a collection of art from the 18th to 20th centuries, including works by

Juan Correa Juan Correa (1646–1739) was a distinguished Mexican painter of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. His years of greatest activity were from 1671 to 1716. Biography Correa was the Afro-Mexican son of a mulatto (or dark-skinn ...

Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago. It has been used as a joint UK–U.S. military base since the 1970s, following the expulsion of the Chagossians by the UK government. The Chagos Islands are set to become a former B ...

Rufino Tamayo Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo (August 25, 1899 – June 24, 1991) was a Mexican painter of Zapotec peoples, Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.Sullivan, 170-171Ades, 357 Tamayo was active in the mid-20th cen ...

Federico Cantú Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. People with the given name Federico Arts and language * Federico Ágreda, Venezuelan composer and DJ * Federico Aguil ...

, Antonio Ruiz,

Adolfo Best Maugard Adolfo Best Maugard, also known as Fito Best (June 11, 1891 – August 25, 1964),
(Spanish), ...

and

Raúl Anguiano José Raúl Anguiano Valadez (February 26, 1915 – January 13, 2006) was a notable Mexican painter of the 20th century, part of the “second generation” of Mexican muralists which continued the tradition of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Or ...

. The central and permanent exhibit is called the "Pago en Especie y Acervo Patrimonial" (payment in kind and cultural heritage). It features works done by Mexicans and foreigners living in Mexico, many of whom donated the works here in lieu of paying their taxes, as part of a program initiated in 1957 as part of an initiative to stimulate artistic activity in Mexico for Mexico. The program's foremost promoter was artist

David Alfaro Siqueiros David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...

. However, the idea did not really take off until the 1970s when Jaime Saldívar,

Inés Amor Ines, and variants, is a feminine given name related to Agnes. Used alone it may refer to: *Saint Ines (Agnes of Rome; c. 291 – c. 304), virgin–martyr, saint * Ines (''Eda-Ines Etti''; born 1981), Estonian singer As a first name *Inés Albe ...

Gilberto Aceves Navarro Gilberto Aceves Navarro (September 24, 1931 – October 21, 2019) was a Mexican painter and sculptor and a professor at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas and Academy of San Carlos. There have been more than two hundred individual exhibit ...

repromoted Siquieros' idea, gaining backing from president

Luis Echeverría Álvarez Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

in 1975. The revived project has enjoyed enthusiastic support from contemporary artists such as

Luis López Loza Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

Roberto Doniz Roberto is an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish variation of the male given name Robert. Notable people named Roberto include: * Roberto (footballer, born 1912) * Roberto (footballer, born 1977) * Roberto (footballer, born 1978) * Roberto (footb ...

Luis Nishizawa Luis Nishizawa Flores (February 2, 1918 – September 29, 2014) was a Mexican artist known for his landscape work and murals, which often show Japanese and Mexican influence. He began formal training as an artist in 1942 at the height of the M ...

Ángela Gurría Ángela Gurría Davó (24 March 1929 – 17 February 2023) was a Mexican sculptor. In 1974, she became the first female member of the Academia de Artes. She is best known for her monumental sculptures such as ''Señal'', an eighteen-meter tal ...

Roger von Gunten Roger von Gunten (born 29 March 1933) is a Swiss-born Mexican artist and sculptor. He was the subject of a 1978 essay by Jomí García Ascot and was part of the '' Breakaway Generation'' which emerged after World War II ending the Mexican Murali ...

, Francisco Corzas, Feliciano Béjar, Francisco Capdevilla,

Fernando Castro Pacheco Fernando Castro Pacheco (January 26, 1918 – August 8, 2013) was a Mexican painter, engraver, illustrator, printmaker and teacher. As well as being known for traditional artistic forms, Castro Pacheco illustrated several children’s books an ...

, Arnaldo Coen,

José Luis Cuevas José Luis Cuevas (February 26, 1934 – July 3, 2017) was a Mexican artist, he often worked as a painter, writer, draftsman, engraver, illustrator, and printmaker. Cuevas was one of the first to challenge the then dominant Mexican muralism ...

José Chávez Morado José Chávez Morado (4 January 1909 – 1 December 2002) was a Mexican artist who was associated with the Mexican muralism movement of the 20th century. His generation followed that of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siq ...

and

Arnold Belkin Arnold Belkin (December 9, 1930 – July 3, 1992) was a Canadian- Mexican painter credited for continuing the Mexican muralism tradition at a time when many Mexican painters were shifting away from it. Born and raised in western Canada, he tra ...

, among others, many of whom still make donations to the museum's collection. Because of this, the museum has been able to assemble exhibits of works by individuals such as Rodolfo Morales,

Rafael Coronel Rafael Coronel (24 October 1931 – 7 May 2019) was a Mexicans, Mexican painter. He was the son-in-law of Diego Rivera. His representational paintings have a melancholic sobriety, and include faces from the past great masters, often floating in ...

Manuel Felguérez Manuel Felguérez Barra (December 12, 1928June 8, 2020) was a Mexican abstract artist, part of the Generación de la Ruptura that broke with the muralist movement of Diego Rivera and others in the mid 20th century. Early life Felguérez was ...

and

Vicente Rojo Vicente Rojo Lluch (8 October 1894 – 15 June 1966) was Chief of the General Staff of the Spanish Armed Forces during the Spanish Civil War. He is considered to have been one of the best commanders of the civil war. Early life He was the p ...

. The museum also hosts temporary exhibits, mostly of contemporary art.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Museo De La Secretaria De Hacienda Y Credito Publico Houses completed in 1530 Secretaria De Hacienda Y Credito Publico Secretaria De Hacienda Y Credito Publico Secretaria De Hacienda Y Credito Publico Secretaria De Hacienda Y Credito Publico Historic center of Mexico City Palaces in Mexico Landmarks in Mexico City History of Mexico City Culture of Mexico Aztec sites Secretaria De Hacienda Y Credito Publico 1957 establishments in Mexico Colonial Mexico Spanish Colonial architecture in Mexico