Iridescence and the Image

At the turn of the seventeenth century in Spain and Mexico, people were fascinated by iridescence. In paintings, portraits, and prints, artists stretched the capacities of conventional media to depict shimmering hues. Some artists put iridescent material right into their work-for example, Indigenous artists in central and western Mexico who crafted elaborate mosaics from feathers. Meanwhile, scientists tried to convey the color play of iridescence in their writings, while theologians and intellectuals invoked iridescent materials in essays and commentaries. Writers also wove the subject into theater scripts and poems.

In Iridescence and the Image, Brendan C. McMahon explores the preoccupation with materials such as shot fabric, hummingbird feathers, mother of pearl, and opals in the early modern Spanish world. McMahon takes as his point of departure the virtuosic depictions of iridescent silk (tornasol) that Spanish artist Antonio de Pereda painted in the 1630s. He shows that iridescent materials such as tornasol and feathers served to challenge assumptions about the nature of visual perception. Ultimately, McMahon argues, iridescence provided a way for people to grapple with profound questions about seeming and being, deception, and the nature of truth.

This highly original book will be of interest to scholars of art history, history, and literature in the early modern Spanish Empire and beyond.