Page 314 - Perú indígena y virreinal

and Tarapacá regions. Mining cities differed from others in that due to the proliferation of settlements, they were not restricted to a rigid, criss-cross block system and tended to evolve according to the topography and the necessities imposed by whatever method extraction was in place. The creativity that was employed in the pursuit of perfection of production methods allowed them to develop specific techniques that amazed Europeans.
Architecture walked hand in hand with this sense of bonanza, shaping the urban landscape. Centres of new construction, such as Lima (1535) show how European architectural values were adapted and transformed—an example being how the abundance of earthquakes in the region necessitated the use of traditional building techniques like the quincha. Many of the main monuments and buildings that have been erected in coastal regions since the 17th Century are made from wood, reeds, mud and plaster. In the mountains, on the other hand, in Cusco or Ayacucho, stone was employed in an attempt to use its stability and rigidity to counteract the effect of earth tremors. In Arequipa for example, the use of ashlar with its off—white colour and particular texture defined the whole city, architecturally speaking.
During the 18th Century, investment in public building projects paved the way for architectural projects that had been systemised by the new administration, above all owing to the rebellion led by Tupac Amaru, creating the intendencias management system. The Royal Bank, Tobacco Company, the Mint, the Royal Treasury, consulates, courts and city halls all showed (although designs and plans very often did not come to fruition) the organisational zeal of this “City of the Enlightenment”.
During this late phase, the port of Callao, which had been at its busiest during the 16th and 17th Centuries when its links to Lima allowed for goods to be moved in the Pacific region, was closed off. This was partly as a result of a tidal wave in 1746, but above all, due to the slow growth of the Atlantic sea front as a consequence of geo-political circumstances that led to the founding of new Viceroyalties, firstly in Nueva Granada and later in Río de la Plata.
corpus christi and the devotion to the eucharist
Gloria Espinosa Spínola
The Eucharist, the sacrament that is central to the Christian church, was the subject of special attention during the Council of Trent, that emphatically recommended the veneration and safekeeping of the Blessed Sacrament as well as instituting the celebration of Corpus Christi as a “triumph over heresy”. These Trent rulings were taken on board in the various synods and church councils that were held by American church, becoming with time, and from the perspective of a baroque mind-set, a veritable cosmogony centred around the Eucharist, heavily imbibed with the sense of ritual and festivity characteristic of the indigenous population.
In the Viceroyalty of Peru, this devotion took shape in an upsurge of highly original artistic creativity, with special mention going to those pieces that were produced within the context of the Corpus Christi celebrations, an annual highpoint during which Peruvian society gave free rein to all its complexity and cultural wealth. One example that is especially significant in order to show the supremacy of these celebrations above others in the Christian calendar can be seen in the city of Cusco where it enjoyed special prestige and popular favour as it coincided with the traditional Inca festivities in honour of the Sun God known as Inti Raymi. The highlight of the celebrations was a procession that passed the holly street in the city, adorned with devotional paintings, temporary structures and mobile altars. Among those taking part were retinues made up of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, paintings of parish saints carried on carts or platforms, and logically enough, the Custody, the image of the incarnation of Christ in His Heavenly Form, the centrepiece of all ritual.
The story of this procession lives on in a series of paintings that give us an idealised version of events, highlighting its magnificence and propaganda value along with the
celebratory nature of the festivities typical of the Latin American mentality. The pieces are also a fine demonstration of the different social classes that made up society in the Peru of the Viceroys; above all, those in which representatives of the local elite are depicted. Thus at the head of these processions, in the brotherhoods that accompanied the images of saints, one can see members of the Inca nobility, whose aspirations of social prestige based on tradition and past position are perfectly in keeping with the aim of the Ecclesiastical authorities to legitimise the triumph of Christianity over Indigenous belief systems.
The celebration of Corpus Christi similarly shaped the production of a series of silverware pieces used in religious ritual, such as monstrances (ornate receptacles in which the host is placed), shrines and tabernacle-work. The former are the most representative due to the vast number that were produced during the Viceroyalty, and the high quality of the pieces, from both an artistic and material point of view. Like all Peruvian silverware, they are made from copious quantities of metal, their material wealth being increased by the use of precious stones, pearls and enamelwork. Regarding their decoration, they are best characterised by their multiple colours, profiles broken by imaginary handles, multiplication of bodies on the stem and ostensorium made of numerous straight beams.
The devotion to the Eucharist also manifested itself in certain iconographies that enjoyed great prestige during the Viceroyalty. This was the case with the representations of Saint Rose of Lima and Saint Ignacio de Loyola, both highly significant figures in the Peruvian context. Saint Rose importance stems from her position as the first Saint from the Americas and a shining example of the True Faith taking root in the New World. Along with Saint Claire of Assisi, she was the only saint in the 17th Century to be depicted holding a monstrance. Saint Ignacio, on the other hand, is important for the untiring work he put into establishing his Jesuit order in Latin America, and in the education of the indigenous peoples, thus becoming a defender of the triumph of Christianity among the native population.
Of similarly special significance is the iconographic subject matter of the Defender of the Faith, widespread in the south of the Andes. It depicts the Spanish king raising his sword high in defence of a monstrance, representing Christianity, that can be seen in the centre of the image, either atop a column, or in the hands of a saint, in some depictions this figure being Saint Rose, whilst all around, the enemies of the Catholic Faith try to overturn it. This iconography, taken from prints found in books published in Spain, is a clear example of how certain subjects from the Old World were assimilated and re-interpreted by indigenous artists, turning them into characteristic elements of their own culture.
In conclusion therefore, it is clear that the devotion to the Eucharist that emerged during the Viceroyalty of Peru, shaped the development of art culture, endowing it with a wealth of works of art that stand out as much for their iconographic innovations as for their technical and artistic excellence. These pieces clearly demonstrate the overlapping of the splendour of the Catholic Church and the sanctification of the daily lives of the indigenous population, resulting in a body of work that typifies Latin American society of that time.
iconography and religion
Víctor Mínguez
Religious images played an extremely important role in the process of evangelising the Americas, giving the priests an extra element to accompany their preaching in the drive to convert the indigenous population to Christianity. Franciscans and Jesuits indoctrinated the locals by distributing vignettes, paintings and sculptures. However, the spiritual devotion that such images promoted was not without its dangers, among them, idolatry and superstition. The first religious images, logically enough, venerated Christ and the Virgin Mary, and could be found everywhere. The devotion to the Virgin Mary was of particular importance within the Viceroyalty of Peru. The Virgin, who encompassed the Andean cults of Pachamama and Apu, became the patron of numerous parishes, churches, convents and chapels, some of which had been built over the remains of pre-Hispanic sacred sites.
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