La Magia del Barroco en Apaseo

You will see, this is a very special book. How to acquire it? You have to know someone who knows someone who is close to the person in charge at the Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer, Mexico City, Mexico. I happen to know such a person and that is how I became the grateful owner of this very fine book on design, decorative painting, history and baroque architecture.

A grand baroque building built in the 18th century in a small town of Apaseo el Grande, south of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

I own many wonderful books. Each and everyone of them chuck full of design inspirations. But this book is special.


All photographs within this book are of one grand house, namely the "Casa Grande de Apaseo" , also known as the "Casa Herrera".




It is a long story. I was looking for several hand carved stone surrounds for our 200 year old Doors from Argentina. I found stone carvers in Mexico who carved the surrounds, not as fabulous as the one above, but one of mine does have the Lion of Venice carved into the entablature.

Hand painted and hand sculpted wall treatments.

Mostly, I am showing you photographs of one of the many kitchens of this grand house.


I like the innovative use of blue and white tiles. They are Portuguese in design but could have been painted in Mexico. Talavera, Azulejos, Maiolica, Delft tiles all have one thing in common. They are painted in the "Maiolica" style using tin glazes.

By innovative, I mean the way images are separated and divided by plain white spaces. So much more effective than covering the entire space with patterned tiles.

Here are some of the tiles I painted a few years ago. See the flower basket tiles above? They are similar to those I have painted. And so is the bird and vase mural that you see in the picture below.

To really appreciate this book you should see the photographs of the interior rooms and courtyards. Never, have I seen such splendid interiors and made more so by the exquisite flower arrangements. All photographs from this book are by Jose Ignacio Gonzales Manterola.

You might be able to place an order on the Amazon.com wish list. An English version (ISBN 9685205000) is supposed to exist. The Spanish version (ISBN 9686258728) might be more easily acquired.

Gina