Old Mesilla Plaza

Leon Trousset, Old Mesilla Plaza, ca. 1885-1886, oil on canvas, 29 ⁹⁄₁₆ x 48 ¹⁄₂ in. (75.1 x 123.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, 1951.13

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Artwork Details

Title: Old Mesilla Plaza
Artist: Leon Trousset
Date: ca. 1885-1886
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 29 ⁹⁄₁₆ x 48 ¹⁄₂ in. (75.1 x 123.2 cm.)
Credit Line: Transfer from the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution
Mediums: oil
Mediums Description: oil on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Architecture — vehicle — wagon
Cityscape — bird’s eye view
Architecture — religious — church
Cityscape — town
Cityscape — New Mexico — Mesilla
Object Number: 1951.13
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1951.13

Artwork Description

Leon Trousset's painting of Mesilla, near Las Cruces, New Mexico, takes us far into the past. Spain's King Philip II mandated the appearance of his colonial cities, where priests, tradesmen, and the king's army competed for influence. Priests often intervened between the soldiers and native peoples, and the church at left reflects their spiritual authority. Across the plaza lies a low-roofed building that likely housed the military commanders. A dirt road leading into the distance marks the town’s position on El Camino Real, the King's Highway connecting trade centers from Santa Fe to Mexico and beyond. Trousset painted this village after the territory had been ceded to the United States, but he included Mexico’s tricolored flags flying in the garrison courtyard. Mesilla’s plaza carried the history of two cultures—Spain and Mexico—even as a third power claimed the unassuming adobe settlement as its own.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006