Manfredo Tafuri and Francesco dal Co have written that we must not only speak of the forms of architecture but also of “what they conceal.”
The former bishopric of Oaxaca possesses a singularity unnoticed until the publication of this book: it is the only colonial building in Mexico which imitates the forms of Mesoamerican architecture (albeit imperfectly).
A leisurely and meticulous investigation allowed the authors to identify the reasons why the second Spanish bishop of Oaxaca, Bernardo Albuquerque, decided on a façade like that of the Palaces at Mitla for his new residence: the desire to perpetuate the memory of the auto da fe at which the last six priests of Mitla were burnt alive.
The unexpected conclusion of this book, documented with care and incontrovertible, is that in Oaxaca, in Mexico, and doubtless in other Spanish colonies, the process of so-called evangelization was in fact but another name for the Inquisition.
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