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Course: Art of the Americas to World War I > Unit 4
Lesson 3: Viceroyalty of Peru- Introduction to the Viceroyalty of Peru
- Introduction to religious art and architecture in early colonial Peru
- Early Viceregal Architecture and Art in Colombia
- Textiles in the Colonial Andes
- Guaman Poma and The First New Chronicle and Good Government
- “Bad Confession” in Guaman Poma’s The First New Chronicle and Good Government
- San Pedro Apóstol de Andahuaylillas
- Luis de Riaño and indigenous collaborators, The Paths to Heaven and Hell, Church of San Pedro de Andahuaylillas
- Bernardo Bitti, Coronation of the Virgin
- Alonso de Ovalle, Tabula geographica regni Chile
- Diego Quispe Tito, Last Judgment, 1675
- Our Lady of Cocharcas and the Cuzco School of Painting
- The Coronation of the Virgin by the Holy Trinity
- The Child Mary Spinning
- Cusco School Artist, Saint Joseph and the Christ Child
- Conserving Cuzco School Paintings
- Parish of San Sebastián, Procession of Corpus Christi
- Master of Calamarca, Angel with Arquebus
- Melchor Pérez de Holguín, Entry of the Viceroy Archbishop Morcillo into Potosí
- Portrait Painting in the Viceroyalty of Peru
- Fourteen portraits of the Inka Kings
- Official Portrait of Bishop Luis Francisco Romero
- Portraits of Francisca Ramírez de Laredo and Antonio de Ulloa
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San Pedro Apóstol de Andahuaylillas
The Church of San Pedro Apóstol de Andahuaylillas,1570-1606, stone, adobe, kur-kur, Andahuaylillas, Peru Speakers: Norma Barbacci, Program Director for Latin America, Spain, and Portugal, World Monuments Fund and Steven Zucker, Smarthistory. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
Want to join the conversation?
- My Mother was a missionary to Mexico, and she said that when she went to a village of adobe huts that only had three walls, half a roof and such, that they're made of Manure, mud, and straw. Are their any other ingredients (building materials) they used for some of those houses? (I love the details! :)(3 votes)
- I understand that an adobe building might be environmentally positive in terms of energy conservation, being cool in the day and warm at night. I wonder, though, if it is a comfortable place in which to dwell. What are the issues of dampness or "livable space to structure space" that may make it a difficult choice. How about the size of windows and such?(2 votes)
- I've spent time in adobe homes owned by friends and they were lovely. Dry, clean and well lit from large windows. The walls are thicker than a wood frame home but that did not decrease the living area in any significant way.(2 votes)
Video transcript
(upbeat jazz music) - We're in the offices of the World Monuments
Fund, in New York City, in the Empire State Building. And we're talking about a
really important project the WMF oversaw in Peru, that has to do with these extraordinary, early Baroque churches. The geography of Peru
is incredibly varied. There are stark deserts and jungles, but it also incorporates
one of the highest mountain ranges on earth: The Andes. - We're going to be talking about the Church of San Pedro de Andahuaylillas, located in the Andes. - Before the Spanish arrived, this area had been controlled
by the Inca Empire. This was an extremely sophisticated empire that had conquered a series
of empires even before it. Primarily, what the
Spanish were interested in was increasing their wealth though the labor that could be gotten from the indigenous populations, but also from raw materials that could be brought back to Spain, especially, and most famously, gold. And the Spanish would claim an enormous amount of land that stretches from what is now Northern California, all the way to the southern
tip of South America. - And when the Spanish came, most of this region,
especially in South America, was connected by a network of roads, known as the "Inka Road"
or the "Qhapaq Ñan." So these churches were built, stretching all the way from Cuzco to the jungle of Peru. They were known as missionary churches, designed to convert. - So, there was a religious
aspect to conversion, but there was also a political aspect, which is, you could, in that
way, control the population. - And the Jesuits, in
this particular case, were considered as the more educated of the religious orders. - But it's important also
to think about the Jesuits as soldiers of the Pope, that were to go out into the world to combat heresy, and to convert as many souls around the world as possible. When you go into the church
of the Jesuits in Rome, you see very explicit references to going to the four great continents, to bring those souls to the church. - And one of the most important products of this whole counter-reformation movement was the Baroque, but
when it came to America, it became infused with
some original techniques and aesthetic preferences. What we call the Andean Baroque became a new, independent style. As you can see, the facade
has got renaissance elements, but then once you go through the portal, it's an explosion of Baroque. - So, when we look closely at the facade, we see this brilliantly-colored entrance, with a porch above that would've been used to preach from. Even from the outside, we can see this wonderfully-complex mix of cultures that is
informing the architecture. You had mentioned the Classical, and you can see that
especially in the pediment. You can see that in the triumphal arch of the entranceway, and of course the classicising plasters. All of this is coming from
the Greco-Roman tradition. - And then, right above you see an element that is what we could consider Mudejar
architecture, from Spain. - So, what we're talking about is the architectural
style that was developed by the Muslims, when they occupied Spain. Now, what happens is that
the Spanish Christians will reconquer the Spanish peninsula. Now, this is a visual vocabulary that refers to conquest: the conquest and the
triumphalism of Christianity. So, let's go inside. - And now you see the stark contrast between the more classical facade into this explosion of Baroque, where every square inch of wall is covered with some kind of decoration. - It must have been so impressive when this was first painted. The ceiling is a kaleidoscope. We see this emphasis on pattern that really does remind me of the Islamic traditions, and we see that especially in the very fine coffering. - The local techniques of
construction were used. For example, instead of wood, the Artesonado ceiling is actually built of this technique called "Kur-Kur," and Kur-Kur consists of a
combination of cane and mud that was then shaped to look like wood, and then painted over
with decorative motifs. - So, this wonderful example of this local building technology, which actually goes back in Andean history for thousands of years, being incorporated into this
modern, Christian environment. And made to look like the celings that we would expect to see in Europe. And it's important to remember that the artisans responsible for the building itself would have been local, indigenous peoples. The entire space feels so
sculptural and so colorful. - And that's probably the reason why this church has been known in Peru as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas. - There is so much that we could look at. The altar is magnificent, but let's look at one particular painting of the last judgment, because that subject became quite common at this moment in colonial South
America, in colonial Peru. We're looking at a mural: fresco, that is known as "secco fresco," that is, it's painting that's been done directly on a dry wall. - The purpose of all these
paintings was propaganda. The people that lived here,
they didn't know how to read, so this is how the
indoctrination happened, through visual means. And this painting by Luis de Riaño, done in the early 17th century, depicts how people that were
good would go to heaven. - We have this fabulous feast laid out before us, but the soul that is especially good
has ignored that bounty. It is willing to do the
hard work of salvation, and he walks along a path that is hard, that people fall off of, but his eyes are fixed on
those that inhabit heaven, and we see a representation of the city of the heavenly
Jerusalem just beyond. - And then, we could see the mural on the opposite side, then. - So, here we have a
pathway that looks easier. It's strewn with flowers, but, of course it leads to doom. It leads to hell. We see the mouth of hell. We see The Devil, who seems to be pulling at people, even on the other side. What's interesting is
that this is a variant on a traditional last judgment scene. But there, you generally see souls that are being awoken from the dead, who have already made their choices. But here, it's much more immediate. It's as if the indigenous peoples were being brought into this church, or being faced with this immediate choice: "What path are you going to take?" And this was especially
important for the Jesuits, who were doing their best to stamp out what they saw as the idols
of the indigenous peoples. Even as these paintings were being made, there would still have
been plenty of references, not only to the religion of the Incas, but the religion of the cultures that had come before the Incas. In fact, the foundation is built of stone, including stone that's been re-purposed from older Inca structures. But, above that, we actually have what is primarily an adobe building: mud mixed with some straw to help bind it. - In the last four or five years, World Monuments Fund has been carrying a conservation campaign in
the church of Andahuayillas. It started with the conservation of the artesonados ceiling, but then we realized that was not enough. We had to address the
structure of the whole church, and then, we started thinking that if we protect the church, we have to also secure the whole town. - We generally think of a
work of art in isolation, but your project exposes the way in which a painting is a part of a building, and a building is a part of a community. - And that's why part of our conservation
and restoration work included a training program
for fifteen young people, who were given the tools that they needed to actually become stewards of their own cultural heritage, and their own patrimony. - And this is especially critical, because development is forcing change on these communities. - Even though Andahuaylillas is a relatively well-preserved town, you see these new
constructions that are built: concrete block and blue
glass and bathroom tile on the facade, and those are not part of the tradition and
the aesthetic integrity of the town, but they're also
very bad, environmentally. Adobe is a thermal material. It actually collects heat during the day, and so the interiors are cool. And at night, they release heat. - And if the local community is really a part of the conversation about maintaining its heritage, really thoughtful and considered decisions can be made about
development, going forward. - So, having a community
that is on your side, in terms of preservation, is much better than just
setting up laws and regulations. We're not proposing to freeze this town. Obviously, this town is
going to develop and grow, but without losing the important aspects of what is part of
their cultural heritage. (upbeat jazz music)