Latin American/Caribbean Art

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(b Vacarisses, 1704; d Barcelona, Feb 14, 1782).

Spanish architect, engineer, and administrator, active in Peru. He was the second son of the Marquis de Castellbell and received military training at an early age. He served as Spanish governor in Chile (1755–61), acquiring a reputation there as a fortifications expert. In 1761 he was appointed Viceroy of Peru, where he launched a vast campaign of public works (see Peru, Republic of §III 1.). During his administrative term, which lasted until 1776, the city of Lima enjoyed a period of prosperity and splendour marked by the French Baroque taste favoured by the Spanish Court. The evidence strongly suggests that Amat was the designer of several monuments in Lima that were executed by the alarife (surveyor and inspector of works) Juan de la Roca, who may have also collaborated in the elaboration of some of the plans. Amat’s masterpiece was the church of Las Nazarenas (consecrated ...

(b Burgos, 1526–7; d Mexico City, 1593).

Mexican architect and sculptor of Spanish birth. In 1541 he moved from his native city to Madrid, where he served as an apprentice to Luis de Vega, one of the architects working in the High Renaissance style for Emperor Charles V. Arciniega worked with Vega in the remodelling of the Alcázar at Madrid. At intervals between 1542 and 1548 he worked under the direction of Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón as a sculptor on the Plateresque façade of the university at Alcalá de Henares. He was possibly also responsible for the main retable in the church of Santiago at Guadalajara.

In 1554 Arciniega arrived in New Spain (now Mexico) with his brother Luis de Arciniega (1537–99), who was also an architect. He settled in Puebla de los Angeles (now Puebla) and worked there between 1554 and 1558, primarily engaged in a large number of public works as master mason. He established his reputation with the fountain that he constructed (...

(b Real de Pachuca, c. 1670; d Mexico City, 1738).

Mexican architect. He qualified as an architect in 1691. Between 1695 and 1709 he worked on the Basílica of Guadalupe, Mexico, which is mainly interesting for its broken lines and for the octagonal form used in the dome, in the section of the towers, and the lintels of the doors. His activities were concentrated mainly in Mexico City, where he worked as Maestro Mayor for the Inquisition and the cathedral. He was responsible for the churches of S Gregorio and S Bernardo, the church and convent of S Teresa la Nueva, the monastery of S José de los Carmelitas Descalzos, the church of El Amor de Dios, and the church, sacristy, and sacristy entrance hall of S Domingo, as well as the Palace of the Inquisition and Customs, all in Mexico City. He also collaborated on the churches of S Clara, Jesús Nazareno, S Francisco, S Miguel, and La Profesa, all in Mexico City, and worked on the Colegio Seminario of the cathedral. His non-ecclesiastical works include the S Juan del Río, Mariscala, and Alhóndiga bridges. He used a white stone from Chiluca and ...

(b Zamora, c. 1680; d Mexico City, 1748).

Spanish architect and sculptor, active in Mexico. Between 1702 and 1703 he worked in Madrid as a designer of stage machinery, later moving to Andalusia, where he produced the principal altar of the sacristy of Seville Cathedral in the Rococo style, completed in 1709 (destr. 1824). Ceán Bermúdez described it as having ‘four large estípites, pilasters, lots of angels prankishly tumbling about and a cornice broken and interrupted in a thousand places with tortuous projections and recessions, the whole topped by a huge arch’. In 1714 Balbás also carried out the plan for the choir-stalls of the church of S Juan in Marchena, carved by Juan de Valencia, equally playful in style and similarly using estípites. The same year he designed the lectern in the same church, though this was not constructed until 1735.

Around 1718 Balbás went to Mexico City to take charge of the ‘retablo del Perdón’ in the Chapel of the Kings at the Metropolitan Cathedral, using the ...

(b Herguijuela, Extremadura, 1545; d 1605).

Spanish architect, active in South America. Both his father, Alonso (d ?1570), and his grandfather, Domingo, were architects; the latter was the Maestro Mayor of Toledo Cathedral (completed 1493). Francisco was considered one of the finest architects in Extremadura, where he was active on a wide range of schemes including the church of S Maria and the chapel of S Isabel (both Trujillo), patrician houses in Guevara, and a chapel between the cloisters in Guadalupe Monastery. In 1573 he left for America, one of the few architects permitted to do so by the Spanish government, which restricted the emigration of qualified personnel. The fact that Becerra was immediately associated with works of magnitude confirms his importance. In 1575 he became the Maestro Mayor of Puebla Cathedral in Mexico, assisted by Francisco Gutiérrez Cabello. By his own account his activity on this assignment lasted for five years and probably included the design and laying of the foundations; however, the plan was amended after ...

[Bitti, Aloisio Bernardino Giovanni Demócrito]

(b Camerino, the Marches, 1548; d Lima, 1610).

Italian painter and sculptor active in Peru. One of seven children born to Pablo and Cornelia Bitti, Bernardo Bitti commenced formal training in the arts at the age of 14 in Camerino and completed his training in Rome. He was inducted into the Society of Jesus as a Coadjutor Brother on 2 May 1568 at the age of 20. The General of the Society of Jesus, Everardo Mecurián, assigned Bitti to the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1573 at the request of the Jesuit Provincial in Peru, Diego Bracamante, who believed religious imagery would facilitate the Catholic indoctrination of indigenous Andeans at missions. After spending 14 months in Seville, Bitti arrived in Lima on 31 May 1575 and worked there for 8 years. He subsequently embarked on a peripatetic career decorating the interiors of Jesuit sites in Cuzco, Juli, La Paz, Sucre, Potosí, Arequipa, and Ayacucho.

Bitti created the main and lateral altarpieces of the Jesuit provisional church of S Pedro in Lima with the assistance of the Andalusian Jesuit artist Pedro de Vargas (...

[Chili, Manuel ]

(fl Quito, 18th century).

Ecuadorean sculptor. An Indian nicknamed Caspicara (wooden face), he lived in Quito, and his name and work were discovered in 1791 by the doctor and journalist Eugenio Espejo. He was a pupil of Bernardo de Legarda. He is considered the outstanding sculptor of religious images in polychromed wood of the colonial period in Quito because of the delicacy, grace, and feeling that he gave to human expressions and his attention to the details of anatomy and the movement of his figures. The elegant but natural carving of the drapery adds a Baroque quality to his sculptures. The most outstanding of his works in Quito, all of unknown date, include the Four Virtues and the Holy Shroud in Quito Cathedral; St Francis, the Twelve Apostles, and the Assumption of the Virgin in S Francisco; and La Virgen del Carmen, St Joseph, and the Coronation of the Virgin in the Museo Franciscano in Quito. In certain of his works he grouped the figures as if in a painting, as in the ...

(Domínguez )

(fl 1648–69).

Spanish architect, active in Peru. On 23 March 1648 he signed a contract with the Franciscans to build rib vaults over the transept and apse of the church of S Francisco in Cuzco. These vaults, which were built in brickwork, withstood the earthquake of 1650 and are evidence of the survival of Gothic building techniques in the New World. Another contract dated 16 August 1649 indicates that he was also responsible for the construction of similar rib vaulting in Cuzco Cathedral, begun to plans by Francisco Becerra in 1582. There he built 17 vaults over the nave and aisles of the cathedral, leading to the piers of the choir, all of brick masonry. Other major works by Chávez y Arellano in Cuzco included the construction of the chapel (1652) of the Jesuit School next to the church of La Compañía on the Plaza de Armas and the choir (1663) of the church of S Domingo, as well as private houses in the city of Cuzco. He also built the parish church (1663) in the nearby town of Paucartambo....

(fl. 1568–1612; d Mexico, 1612).

Spanish painter and architect, active in New Spain (Mexico). In 1568, he went from Spain to Mexico, possibly because he was commissioned to paint the principal retable of the church of Yanhuitlan, Oaxaca State, with the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Magi, the Presentation in the Temple, the Descent from the Cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension, Pentecost, the Last Judgement, the Immaculate Conception, St. Jerome, Mary Magdalene, St. Luke, and St. Dominic (1575–1579). These retablo paintings reflect his style as a Mannerist painter of the Seville school, particularly that of Luis de Vargas.

Between 1570 and 1575, Andrés de la Concha worked in Oaxaca city’s cathedral. In 1580–1581 he collaborated with Simón Pereyns on the retable (destr., paintings untraced) of the high altar in the monastery of Teposcolula, Oaxaca State; and in this period he also worked in the church of Coixtlahuaca, Oaxaca State, on paintings for the retable, of which eleven panels survive: three dedicated to the ...

(b Mexico, c. 1646; d Mexico, 1716).

Mexican painter. He is thought to have been the teacher of such painters as Juan Rodríguez Juarez and José de Ibarra. His many works for the cathedral of Mexico City include (for the sacristy) the large-scale Assumption and the Coronation of the Virgin (both 1689) and the Entry into Jerusalem (1691). For the same cathedral he also painted the Vision of the Apocalypse, other versions of the Assumption and the Coronation of the Virgin (destr. 1967), and the groups of angels for the retables of the Angel de la Guarda and Angel Custodio. Other religious paintings by Correa are in the chapel of the Rosary in the convent of Azcapotzalco, Mexico City, and Durango Cathedral, which includes works based on models by Rubens. Some interesting works by Correa in Spain include a series of ten canvases dedicated to the Life of the Virgin (Antequera, Mus. Mun.) and the ...

Spanish family of architects, active in Mexico from 1690 to after 1750. It is assumed that José Durán, Miguel Custodio Durán, and Diego Durán Berruecos were related, although research to date has not produced any firm evidence. José Durán was responsible for the plan of the basilica of Guadalupe, which was built (1695–1709) by Pedro de Arrieta at the foot of the hill of Tepeyac, north of Mexico City. It is longitudinal in plan, with aisles, but centrally organized with a crossing dome equidistant from the sanctuary and the entrance. This dome presides over each elevation, framed by octagonal bell-towers at the corners. A possible stylistic source is the Basílica del Pilar (begun 1681), Saragossa, Spain.

Miguel Custodio Durán is associated with a series of works carried out in Mexico City. The most important of these is the church of S Juan de Dios (1729) on the north side of the Alameda Gardens. The main elevation is dished inwards in the manner of a ...

[Chávez]

Mexican family of painters of Spanish origin. Baltasar de Echave Orio the elder (b Zumaya, c. 1558; d Mexico City, c. 1620) arrived in Mexico from Spain c. 1580. He worked with his father-in-law, Francisco de Zumaya (also known as Francisco de Ibía and Francisco de Gambo), on the principal retable and the S Miguel retable in Puebla Cathedral in 1590. His most important works date from the first two decades of the 17th century, during which he produced paintings for the retable of the Franciscan church of Santiago de Tlatelolco, Mexico City, of which the Visitation (Mexico City, Pin. Virreinal) and Porciuncula are certainly by him; the attribution of the Annunciation (Mexico City, Pin. Virreinal), Resurrection, and Stigmatization of St Francis (Guadalajara, Mus. Reg. Antropol. & Hist.), originally in the same church, is more cautious. For the church of La Profesa, Mexico City, he executed the Adoration of the Magi...

Guatemalan family of sculptors. Antonio Joseph de Gálvez was a master carpenter and mason. Few of his works are known. In 1720 he contracted with S Francisco, Santiago de Guatemala (now Antigua), to make the monumento (altar) used on Maundy Thursdays. He was in charge of the rebuilding of the monastic hospital of S Pedro in Santiago de Guatemala. His son Francisco Javier de Gálvez was also a master carver, whose surviving works show high ability. In 1747 Francisco Javier contracted to make the retable of the Crucifixion (untraced) in the Capilla de Los Reyes in Santiago de Guatemala Cathedral. In 1758 he was commissioned by the church of La Merced in Santiago de Guatemala to make two retables (Guatemala City, La Merced), one of Jesus of Nazareth and the other of Our Lady of Slavery. He also worked in the Real Palacio in the 1760s under the direction of ...

(b Villa de Guadalupe [now Guadalupe], c. 1727; d Mexico City, 1792).

Mexican architect. He is first documented as carrying out various repairs and inspecting the work of others in Guadalupe. By 1767 he had been appointed Maestro de Arquitectura by the municipality of Mexico City. Between 1770 and 1774, as Maestro Mayor, he worked in Mexico City on the estate of the Marqués of Oaxaca, the royal palace, the cathedral and the Inquisition Tribunal, the Santo Tribunal de la Fe. His most important ecclesiastical commission was the Capilla del Pocito (1779–91) in Guadalupe. Its unconventional plan is derived from Sebastiano Serlio’s interpretation of a Roman temple, with an oval central space (rather than Serlio’s circular chamber) surrounded by rectangular chapels and an octagonal sacristy; the building is approached by a small circular vestibule. The exterior shows this juxtaposition of spaces thanks to a large central dome with smaller domes set over the vestibule and the sacristy. The traditional polychromy of Mexican Baroque architecture is achieved here, as in his other work, through the use of white Chiluca stone, red ...

(b Cochabamba, c. 1665; d Potosí, c. 1730).

Bolivian painter. In 1693 he was working in Potosí, Bolivia, the Spanish empire’s largest city and most important centre of mining. He was highly esteemed and developed a characteristic style that emphasizes the facial features. His images of saints, mystics, and ascetics reflect the religious ideals of the Hispano-American Baroque. He signed many of his paintings and portrayed himself in some of them, for example the Last Judgement (1708; Potosí, S Lorenzo).

In his early works he depicted ascetic saints famed for their acts of charity, such as Fray Pedro de Alcántara and St Juan de Dios (both La Paz, Mus. N. A.), using grey tones. At the end of the 17th century he incorporated a wider range of colours into his paintings and began to work on a larger scale, as in the Last Judgement, which includes scenes of the Glory and Hell. This theme became popular throughout the Viceroyalty, with compositions of this type appearing in rural highland churches, such as those at Carabuco and Casquiaviri. Holguín later began his series of ...

(b San Miguel el Grande, now San Miguel de Allende, 1685; d Mexico City, Nov 21, 1756).

Mexican painter of African ancestry, listed as Spanish in the 1753 Mexico City census. He apprenticed with Juan Correa in Mexico City and, after 1716, was a journeyman in the workshop of Juan Rodríguez Juárez until 1728. Known in his lifetime as the “Murillo of New Spain,” his drawing style, subject matter, and use of color is equally influenced by the work of Peter Paul Rubens. A leading painter in New Spain throughout the 1730s, he produced portraits for at least three viceroys and numerous works for female convents, monasteries, colleges, and cathedrals. One of his earliest signed paintings, The Divine Spouse (1728), shows the reclining figure of Christ in a verdant garden inhabited by words and symbols taken from an emblem tradition. Appropriate for a convent setting and now in the Museo Nacional del Virreinato in Tepotzotlán, the intriguing composition prompted subsequent artists Miguel Herrera, Miguel Cabrera, José de Páez, and Andrés López to create their own versions. In 1731–1732 Ibarra produced four paintings for the cathedral in Puebla, confirming his mastery as an artist and fueling his prestige throughout the viceroyalty. Located on the choir’s outer wall, all four compositions show the apotheosis of a holy figure or religious devotion flanked by canons posing as saints (a portrait type known as ...

[Xuarez]

Mexican family of painters. Luis Juarez (b c. 1585; d Mexico City, c. 1638) painted in the Mannerist style of the Spanish painters settled in Mexico, such as Baltasar de Echave Orio and Alonso Vázquez, although his figures are softer than those of his teachers. He began working in the first decade of the 17th century. His signed St Teresa (Guadalajara, Mus. Guadalajara) dates from that time and his St Anthony of Padua and the Ascension (both Querétaro, Mus. Reg.) from 1610. In 1611 he was commissioned to make the triumphal arch for the reception of the Viceroy of New Spain, Fray García Guerra. During the 1620s he painted the retables in the church of Jesús María, Mexico City, and in S Agustín, Puebla. The finest of his numerous religious works are the Annunciation, the Agony in the Garden, the Visitation, the Archangel Michael, and St Raphael (all Mexico City, Pin. Virreinal); the ...

(b Quito, ?end of the 17th century; d Quito, May 31, 1773).

Ecuadorean wood-carver and painter. He was a pupil of José Olmos, and he set up his workshop in Quito facing the Franciscan monastery for which he worked. A versatile artist, he was also active as a gold- and silversmith, printer, and gunsmith. In 1736 Legarda carved his masterful Virgin of the Apocalypse or Winged Virgin of Quito (Quito, S Francisco), which was inspired by a painting by Miguel de Santiago. Legarda’s fine work reflects the mystical fervour of the legend it depicts. The twisting figure of the Virgin, trampling the head of a dragon underfoot, is balanced by her outspread arms and wings. Her face reflects the beauty of the mestiza, the mixed-race woman of Quito. Elsewhere in Quito, Legarda carved the Baroque altarpieces for the church of La Merced, the hospital and the churches of the Carmen Moderno and Cantuña, as well as the Crucifixion in this last church. In ...

(b Seville, 1610; d Mexico City, 1652).

Spanish painter. A pupil of Zurbarán, in 1640 he settled in Mexico City, where he went as part of the retinue of the Viceroy, the Marqués de Villena. In 1643 he formally requested to serve as a notary for the Holy Office of the Inquisition, following a family tradition in Seville. While his actual involvement with the dealings of the Inquisition was likely minimal, for the Holy Office he painted a series of portraits of former members, the portrait of Bishop Juan de Mañozca (all lost works), the portrait of Bishop Manso y Zúñiga (Mexico City Cathedral), and a Crucifixion (Mexico City, Museo de la Basilica de Guadalupe). López de Arteaga was active for only ten years in New Spain and produced a limited amount of work in Mexico, but influenced local painters, most notably José Juárez, Pedro Ramírez, and Baltasar Echave y Rioja. Although he is often credited with introducing the tenebrist style from Seville, his extant works in Mexico show a great degree of versatility, ranging from a deep chiaroscuro in dramatic subjects (e.g. the ...

(Darío )

(b Cabimas, Jan 27, 1940; d Cabimas, Nov 22, 1990).

Venezuelan painter. He was self-taught and is best known for his depiction of female figures and his architectural landscapes, which showed his appreciation of Renaissance art. Characteristic of his painting was the portrayal of solitary figures in a posed, wild-eyed attitude, enveloped in unreal surroundings and in wide spaces containing solid architectural structures, as in ...