From the Vatican's Basement

The Colegio de San Ildefonso, a Jesuit boarding school, was one of the most important educational institutions in colonial Mexico.  In the 19th century the building became the National Preparatory School, affiliated with the University of Mexico.  It is now a cultural center and venue for special art exhibits.

The building is worth visiting as a fine example of colonial architecture.

It is also known as the "Cradle of Mexican Muralism" because it was here in the 1920s that the government began its policy of commissioning artists to decorate public buildings.  The courtyard and stairwells feature murals by a number of Mexico's most important painters.

On Thursday I paid another visit to San Ildefonso to see a special exhibit which has been drawing large crowds... "The Great Vatican Collections in Mexico".  

The exhibit commemorates 25 years of diplomatic relations between Mexico and the Vatican and contains over 180 objects from the Vatican Museums and other church collections.  

Fortunately, the exhibit is free, because, quite frankly, I was underwhelmed.  I know that the collection of the Vatican Museums is huge and contains some of the world's great artistic treasures.  But for this exhibit they must have cleared out some items that were in storage in the basement.  There were a few pieces of Roman sculpture, and a few minor pieces by well known artists such as Raphael and Titian.  (One of the painters included was a 16th century Italian by the name of Marcelo Venusti, who is best known for making copies of Michelangelo's paintings.) The theme of the show was the history of the papacy, and there were numerous portraits of Popes done by middling 19th century painters centuries after those Popes actually lived.  

The Colegio de San Ildefonso is worth seeing, but not because of the current exhibit there.