The Virgin Mary with Indigenous (Aymara) Donors
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Object Label
In these two richly decorated paintings from the Viceroyalty of Peru, worshippers gather in devotion around the Virgin Mary. Both images feature the Indigenous donors—identifiable by their traditional Andean dress—who commissioned the respective paintings.
Members of the Indigenous elite occupied a precarious place in the Spanish Americas. Referred to by Spanish officials as indios amigos (friendly Indians), they retained cultural customs that were widely displaced by colonization and navigated the imposition of Catholicism—a practice that allowed them to maintain a degree of their pre-Conquest prestige. The complexity and instability of racial hierarchies is further illustrated by the solemn young figure at the bottom right of The Virgin Mary with Christ Child, Saint Dominic, Saint Francis, and Indigenous Donors, whom some scholars interpret as the Andean worshippers’ free or enslaved servant.
Caption
Unknown Artist. The Virgin Mary with Indigenous (Aymara) Donors, 1752. Oil on wood panel, panel: 10 1/4 x 7 9/16 x 3/8 in. (26 x 19.2 x 1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 41.1275.225. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 41.1275.225_PS4.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
The Virgin Mary with Indigenous (Aymara) Donors
Date
1752
Geography
Place made: La Paz, Bolivia
Medium
Oil on wood panel
Classification
Dimensions
panel: 10 1/4 x 7 9/16 x 3/8 in. (26 x 19.2 x 1 cm)
Inscriptions
Painted at bottom center: "Dn Mariano Pina Fonda- / dor y mayor-ad-Lascni / chosya badades y a Aront"
Credit Line
Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott Fund
Accession Number
41.1275.225
Rights
No known copyright restrictions
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