Built in the 16th century, the church is renowned for its intricate murals depicting religious and secular themes, as well as its fusion of European and Indigenous architectural styles.

The construction of the Church of San Miguel Arcángel in Ixmiquilpan can be understood as a direct symptom of the Spanish conquest and their subsequent Christianising efforts.

[3] The prominence of pre-Hispanic Aztec iconography in this church’s murals in a period of extreme religious prosecution is better understood with the context of the ongoing Chichimeca war (1550–90) that coincided with its construction.

[6] The psychomachia present in the murals—that is, the struggle between good and evil, vices and virtues, angels and demons[7]—serves to inculcate the idea of triumphal Christianity over the pagan Chichimecas influenced by Satan.

The Otomíes are depicted as superior, with traditional military garb and the heads of their enemies in their possession, and are juxtaposed by the desperate and pathetic Chichimecas, wearing minimal clothing, with some picking up stones off the ground to use as their only weapons.

[13]  Both animals are depicted multiple times throughout the murals and their presence of them breads Christian interpretations of good vs evil once again, and the personification of heaven and hell.

The Church of San Miguel of Arcángel is home to murals that were a very important piece of propaganda for the Augustinian friars working to convert indigenous populations to Christianity.