The Colonial Andes

"This unique volume illustrates and discusses in detail more than 160 extraordinary fine and decorative art works of the colonial Andes, including examples of the intricate Inca weavings and metalwork that preceded the colonial era as well as a few of the remarkably inventive forms this art took after independence from Spain. An international array of scholars and experts examines the cultural context, aesthetic preoccupations, and diverse themes of art from the viceregal period, particularly the florid patternings and the fanciful beasts and hybrid creatures that have come to characterize colonial Andean art."--Jacket.

Examining the vivid, often apocalyptic church murals of Peru from the early colonial period through the nineteenth century, Heaven, Hell, and Everything in Between explores the sociopolitical situation represented by the artists who generated these murals for rural parishes. Arguing that the murals were embedded in complex networks of trade, commerce, and the exchange of ideas between the Andes and Europe, Ananda Cohen Suarez also considers the ways in which artists and viewers worked through difficult questions of envisioning sacredness. This study brings to light the fact that, unlike the murals of New Spain, the murals of the Andes possess few direct visual connections to a pre-Columbian painting tradition; the Incas’ preference for abstracted motifs created a problem for visually translating Catholic doctrine to indigenous congregations, as the Spaniards were unable to read Inca visual culture. Nevertheless, as Cohen Suarez demonstrates, colonial murals of the Andes can be seen as a reformulation of a long-standing artistic practice of adorning architectural spaces with images that command power and contemplation. Drawing on extensive secondary and archival sources, including account books from the churches, as well as on colonial Spanish texts, Cohen Suarez urges us to see the murals not merely as decoration or as tools of missionaries but as visual archives of the complex negotiations among empire, communities, and individuals.

"Based on thorough archival research combined with stunning visual analysis, Maya Stanfield-Mazzi demonstrates that Andeans were active agents in Catholic image-making and created a particularly Andean version of Catholicism. Object and Apparition describes the unique features of Andean Catholicism while illustrating its connections to both Spanish and Andean cultural traditions"--Provided by publisher.

This volume examines images and beliefs related to birdmen among Incas and other peoples of South America, and the transformation of that phenomena in the colonial era by Christian missionaries. The author brings to light previously-unknown images of Saint Francis of Assisi with wings, flying through the air as a militant angel of the Apocalypse. Although commissioned by the Franciscan friars, these works of painting and sculpture were executed by native artists with native sensibilities. They reveal a social critique of colonial society, an expectation of an approaching end of the world, and a controversial role for Francis of Assisi at a final cosmic battle. Natural catastrophes, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, combined with mythology, prophecy, piety and public performance, assert a "Franciscan exceptionalism" at a crucial time in Latin American history. A side trip to colonial Mexico reveals that similar dynamics were occurring there, but with different artistic solutions. Birdman of Assisi documents how a beloved medieval saint gained new life among Incas and other native civilizations of the Americas, and continues to fascinate their descendants today.

The cities -- The mountains -- The grid -- Lords -- "That so qualified assembly"--The viceroy -- Tyrants -- On the ground -- In and out of the reducciones -- Four hundred years.

Examines the Spanish invasion of the Inca Empire in 1532 and how European and indigenous life ways became intertwined, producing a new and constantly evolving hybrid colonial order in the Andes.

Via military conquest, Catholic evangelization, and intercultural engagement and struggle, a vast array of knowledge circulated through the Spanish viceroyalties in Mexico and the Andes. This collection highlights the critical role that indigenous intellectuals played in this cultural ferment. Scholars of history, anthropology, literature, and art history reveal new facets of the colonial experience by emphasizing the wide range of indigenous individuals who used knowledge to subvert, undermine, critique, and sometimes enhance colonial power. Seeking to understand the political, social, and cultural impact of indigenous intellectuals, the contributors examine both ideological and practical forms of knowledge. Their understanding of "intellectual" encompasses the creators of written texts and visual representations, functionaries and bureaucrats who interacted with colonial agents and institutions, and organic intellectuals. Contributors. Elizabeth Hill Boone, Kathryn Burns, John Charles, Alan Durston, María Elena Martínez, Tristan Platt, Gabriela Ramos, Susan Schroeder, John F. Schwaller, Camilla Townsend, Eleanor Wake, Yanna Yannakakis