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Lot Essay
From Christianity’s earliest days, the Virgin Mary was widely revered across the Holy Roman Empire, and from the 5th to the 17th century, her cult had grown so vast that by 1615 Pope Paul V formally established the office venerating her image. The young Virgin Mary as the Immaculate Conception, (i.e. born free from original sin), became the most potent visual emblem during the Counter-Reformation in response to the rise of Protestantism in the 16th century. A period of great spiritual revival, the Counter-Reformation, sparked an extraordinary and exuberant artistic production in Western Europe but moreover, in Spain’s colonial territories across its expansive empire in Asia and the Americas.
The present work, dating to the 17th century and conceived in the Viceroyalty of Peru, reveals the vibrant artistic imagination of the Cuzco Schook workshop, whose most famous master was Diego Quispe Tito (1611-1681). Renowned for his numerous renderings of the Virgin Mary, the Quechuan painter’s other religious subjects include his Last Judgement (1675) at the Convent of San Francisco in Cuzco and other masterpieces throughout the Andean region. A member of the Inka nobility, Quispe Tito was highly respected by the local artistic and social classes which included the Spanish overlords, Inka nobility and mestizos. He is known to have trained numerous artists such as Diego Callaymara, Alonso Yunca, Diego Huallpa and Andrés Juantupa in his workshop or atelier in the parish of San Sebastián in Cuzco where he resided (G. A. Bailey, Art of Colonial Latin America, 2005, p. 194).
To the Andean communities, the Virgin’s resplendent image as Queen of Heaven in a realm of clouds, supported by a crescent moon beneath her feet perhaps resonated with their ancient worship of the moon deity, Mama Quilla, queen of the Inka. In keeping with the Cuzco school tradition, here Mary and her heavenly retinue are pictured in sumptuous garments elaborated with gold detailing. Above the young Virgin’s head, angels hold a dazzling crown while a dozen stars radiate around her. The Christian religious iconography is further reinforced by the use of local vestments, such as the Virgin’s dazzling tunic and mantle which reflect the rich Inka textile tradition and bouquet of the red flowers or ñukchu, the sacred flower of the ancient Inka queen, at lower right. Other Marian symbols that allude to her purity and piety are held by angels such as the spotless mirror on the upper right and the white lily beneath; a bouquet of red roses without thorns as those from Eden before her fall, while the upper signs represent the entrance and stairs to Heaven. Guarding and protecting her, is the celestial warrior, the Archangel Michael, who fends off the Satan, pictured as a serpentine beast at her feet.
M. J. Aguilar, Ph.D.
The present work, dating to the 17th century and conceived in the Viceroyalty of Peru, reveals the vibrant artistic imagination of the Cuzco Schook workshop, whose most famous master was Diego Quispe Tito (1611-1681). Renowned for his numerous renderings of the Virgin Mary, the Quechuan painter’s other religious subjects include his Last Judgement (1675) at the Convent of San Francisco in Cuzco and other masterpieces throughout the Andean region. A member of the Inka nobility, Quispe Tito was highly respected by the local artistic and social classes which included the Spanish overlords, Inka nobility and mestizos. He is known to have trained numerous artists such as Diego Callaymara, Alonso Yunca, Diego Huallpa and Andrés Juantupa in his workshop or atelier in the parish of San Sebastián in Cuzco where he resided (G. A. Bailey, Art of Colonial Latin America, 2005, p. 194).
To the Andean communities, the Virgin’s resplendent image as Queen of Heaven in a realm of clouds, supported by a crescent moon beneath her feet perhaps resonated with their ancient worship of the moon deity, Mama Quilla, queen of the Inka. In keeping with the Cuzco school tradition, here Mary and her heavenly retinue are pictured in sumptuous garments elaborated with gold detailing. Above the young Virgin’s head, angels hold a dazzling crown while a dozen stars radiate around her. The Christian religious iconography is further reinforced by the use of local vestments, such as the Virgin’s dazzling tunic and mantle which reflect the rich Inka textile tradition and bouquet of the red flowers or ñukchu, the sacred flower of the ancient Inka queen, at lower right. Other Marian symbols that allude to her purity and piety are held by angels such as the spotless mirror on the upper right and the white lily beneath; a bouquet of red roses without thorns as those from Eden before her fall, while the upper signs represent the entrance and stairs to Heaven. Guarding and protecting her, is the celestial warrior, the Archangel Michael, who fends off the Satan, pictured as a serpentine beast at her feet.
M. J. Aguilar, Ph.D.