Indigenous Representation in Colonial Latin American Art
The following paintings represent Indigeneity, and indigenous representation in Colonial Latin American art. The creation of these paintings span from 1690-1809. By choosing these paintings, I hope to depict Indigenous presence and artistic resistance, by indigenous artists, as well as indigenous depictions by Spaniards and non-indigenous artists, and how these American artists had to appeal to the Spanish crown. In the 18th century, Spain gave many attempts through the Bourbon Reforms and the Enlightenment to control and modernize its colonies across the sea. The goal of the Bourbon Reforms was to return to having a status as a world power by enhancing political control, after the Spanish War of Succession. Art was a significant way they attempted to have control over the colonies, because something is powerful when you can see it. For a faraway metropole, art=power.
During the 18th century, Spaniards in Spain liked to learn about their colonies, as part of the Enlightenment, and the Crown supported this, wanting to maintain support of the colonies from the metropole. Through scientific expeditions, they were able to. The Mutis expedition, a scientific expedition, produced a large quantity of scientific drawings of flora and fauna in the Americas. Vicente Albán, an Ecuadorian painter under the Quito school, was commissioned by Mutis to make paintings depicting race and the vast bounty of flora the Viceroyality of New Granada had. Thus came the Quito series, including Feathered Yumbo. I’ve included this painting because it is painted by a native of Quito, though we don’t know his racial background. It is interesting how he chooses to depict the indigenous boy for a European audience.
The earliest painting I’ve included, Folding Screen With Indian Wedding, Mitote, and Flying Pole, is, as the name suggests, painted on a folding screen. Circa 1690, the artist is unknown. The painting includes depictions of a lively indigenous wedding with traditional customs and dress. Union of the Inka Royal Family with the Houses of Loyola and Borgia also comes from an unknown artist, sometime in the 18th century. This painting is uniquely Colonial Latin American, because it represents the Spanish community and the indigenous Inkan from Peru, painted with aspects of the colonial and indigenous styles.
The Miracle of the Well comes from Rafael Ximeno y Planes, the only Spanish artist I’ve included. This painting has many significant elements, including many different socioracial classes of people, and the Virgin of Guadalupe, an authentically Indigenous-American part of Christianity. The painting is also stylistically vague; likely claiming to be Neoclassical, the style of the San Carlos Academy, which Planes directed. The painting seems to contain aspects of Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical, indicating that the Spanish Crown’s attempt to promote Neoclassicism in the Americas wasn’t going as planned.
Together, these paintings offer a wide range of perspectives in and of Colonial Latin America, and each depict indigenous life from different angles.
Feathered Yumbo, Quito Series, Vicente Albán, 1783. Oil on canvas, 80 x 109 cm. Museo de América, Madrid, Spain.
Learn about this piece https://youtu.be/frE53nWUSzs
Folding Screen With Indian Wedding, Mitote, and Flying Pole, Unknown Artist, 1690. Oil on canvas, 167.6 x 304.8 cm. Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
This painting encapsulates Indigenous celebration and persistence during the colonial period. To the far right, a newly married couple comes out of a church, and is welcomed by a group of dancers, performing mitote, a dance which imitates the Aztec emperor, wearing exceptional dress, holding feathers and instruments, displaying the importance of dress, music, and dance to Aztec rituals. One dancer stands out, with the large feather headdress, representing the Aztec emperor, and he is followed by a servant boy. As the viewer’s eyes move to the left side of the screen, spectators are watching with awe as individuals play and hang from the large pole, some also with instruments. The women viewers here are wearing huipils, traditional tunics. The image was painted on a folding screen, likely intended for Spanish viewers, because folding screens were a commodity from trade with Asia. Additionally, Spaniards would’ve been pleased to see that the indigenous population had converted to Christianity. The majority of the painting contains positive depictions of Indigenous life. In the far left quadrant of the screen, there appear to be individuals dressed in Spanish clothes. However they are not the main subject of the painting whatsoever. It is difficult to draw conclusions without knowing the painter, as this was likely a tool used by Spaniards to understand colonial life. Despite that, this shows the continuance of rich traditions during Spanish colonial rule, and the meshing of the two cultures. Folding screens were known as Biombos, and the setting is thought to be in Santa Ana Ixtacalco, part of modern day Mexico City. Folding screens were introduced to New Spain in the early seventeenth century via trade.
Union of the Inka Royal Family with the Houses of Loyola and Borgia, Unknown Artist, 1700-1800. Oil on canvas, 175.2 x 168.3 cm. Museo Pedro de Osma, Lima, Peru.
This painting, one of many replications, tells the story of two Inkan princesses, survivors of the royal lineage, marrying Spaniards. The woman in the middle, doña Beatriz Clara Coya, was one of the wealthiest women in Peru, and she married don Martín García de Loyola, a conquistador and nephew of a member of the Jesuits who had come to convert the indigenous population in Peru. In between the two couples are St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis de Borja. The second bride, to the far right, was doña Ana María Lorenza de Loyola, marrying Spanish nobleman don Juan Enríquez de Borja y Almansa. The marriages represent the joining of Inka nobility and Jesuits. This image shows indigenous distinct painting style with its flattened forms and use of gold, characteristic of the Cuzco School Guild, which parted ways with the Spanish painters guild due to mistreatment. The painting also includes a cartouche with a description — classic of Colonial Latin American Art. This piece depicts indigeneity and distinct colonial American identity because it is of the union of indigenous Inkan princesses to Spaniards, likely by force. This also represents the more complicated social-hierarchical life in Latin America than Spaniards preferred: wealthy, elite indigenous families. Additionally it demonstrates how indigenous Americans, specifically women, had to conform and survive under Spanish rule. In the far left of the painting are the Inka family members, dressed in traditional elite dress, showing the abundance of pre-contact culture. In front of them, the Cartouche sits in front of a small servant, typical of nobility paintings. To the far right in the background is the bishop surrounded by many clergy men. In the background in the sky, illuminated by light are the letters IHS, standing for “Jesus Hominum Salvator.”
The Miracle of the Little Spring, Rafael Ximeno y Planes, 1809. Oil on canvas. 84 x 72 cm. Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City, Mexico.
This painting depicts the third appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Juan Diego. Supposedly, when Diego brought the bishop to the hill, he couldn’t remember exactly where she appeared, and she made a spring appear to show him. In the direct center under the Virgin in the sky is Bishop Zumárraga surrounded by Spaniards, clearly depicted by their style of dress and light skin. Their centrality in the painting signifies their importance, atop the social hierarchy and for bringing Christianity to the New World. Juan Diego is on one knee to the left of the bishop. Further left on the wagon are a Spaniard and Mestizo, and underneath, a black man looking through the wheel, representing their place in the Spanish-dominated social hierarchy. On the far right are indigenous people, drinking and looking at the water.
Based on their dress and placement throughout the painting, the social classes are prevalent. Indigenous people are painted with darker skin and their clothes look like rags. The painting was commissioned by the Royal College, and Planes attempts to depict life in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This work also represents the Spanish curiosity with the different races of New Spain, and the painting depicts maintenance of the social hierarchy, while also something uniquely indigenous American: the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe.