Our Lady of Pomata from Pomata, Peru

This small painting is the most famous depiction of the Lady of Pomata, a woman said to protect the town of Pomata, Peru. It was painted between 1700 and 1750 by an unknown local artist, though why the painting is famous dates before it's origin. Peru was ruled by the Inca until 1530 when Spanish conquistadors began their trek into South America. With them came a very firm faith in Catholicism that they instilled in the Incan population. For the two hundred years between this conquest and the painting Peru was a colony of Spain, which induced a fusion in European and Latin styles that resulted in more formally created artwork than what was typical of the native culture.

I found this painting to be interesting because of the format. Unlike many Incan works of art, this one has structured the subjects into a hierarchy of importance. I think this appears more European than is typical of a Latin painting. The romanticized flowers and the woman's dress seem extremely different from the utilitarian artwork the Incan created in a worship setting. For this reason, I found this painting to be almost like a European painting what he saw in his environment than a native Incan painting the Lady of the town for religious purposes.

Unnamed Fresco from the Church of San Antonio Abad

This painting is featured in the entryway of the Church of San Antonio Abad in Cusco, Peru on the grounds of the Monasterio. The painting is the product of a student from the Escuela Cusqueña, which was the Cusco School of Art between 1678 and 1699. I wanted to begin my exploration of Christian-inspired art with this fresco and this category in general because of how surprisingly unconventional I found the Latin American art to be. South America was colonized by the Spanish and Portuguese for the most part and therefore were strongly influenced by the Roman Catholicism that accompanied these two nations; to this day much of South America's culture is deeply rooted in the Catholic faith.

I chose this fresco because the image of Jesus on the cross is one that is central to modern Christianity and this was an interesting interpretation of the crucifixion. To begin, the cross is covered in what appear to be very classic Latin American flowers. Next, while many paintings of this scene show Jesus in very little clothes, or naked, here he is shown in a much fuller skirt, typical of a more Latin style. Finally, I found it very intriguing that Jesus is definitively darker than the people watching him. It's almost as though Jesus is Hispanic and the people watching him are Caucasian. I want to look into the significance of this fusion of western religion and Latin style later.