Quito school

La Virgen alada del Apocalípsis ("Winged Virgin of the Apocalypse") by Miguel de Santiago, 17th century.
Retrato de una señora principal con su negra esclava ("Portrait of a Quito Matron Lady with Her Black Slave") by Vicente Albán, 1783. Oil on canvas, 80 x 109 cm. Madrid, Museum of the Americas.

The Quito School (Escuela Quiteña) is a Latin American colonial artistic tradition that constitutes essentially the whole of the professional artistic output developed in the territory of the Royal Audience of Quito – from Pasto and Popayán in the north to Piura and Cajamarca in the south – during the Spanish colonial period (1542–1824).[1] It is especially associated with the 17th and 18th centuries and was almost exclusively focused on the religious art of the Catholic Church in the country.[2] Characterized by a mastery of the realistic and by the degree to which indigenous beliefs and artistic traditions are evident, these productions were among of the most important activities in the economy of the Royal Audience of Quito.[3] Such was the prestige of the movement even in Europe that it was said that King Carlos III of Spain (1716–1788), referring to one of its sculptors in particular, opined: "I am not concerned that Italy has Michelangelo; in my colonies of America I have the master Caspicara".[4]

  1. ^ Ximena Escudero-Albornoz and Ximena Escudero de Terán. América y España en la escultura colonial quiteña: historia de un sincretismo. Ediciones del Banco de los Andes (1992). ISBN 9978-82-293-3, ISBN 978-9978-82-293-7
  2. ^ Handelsman, Michael (2000), Culture and Customs of Ecuador (Series: Culture and Customs of Latin America and the Caribbean; Series editor: Peter Standish); Westport, Connecticut/London: Greenwood Press, pg 125.
  3. ^ Christiana Renate Borchart de Moreno. La Audiencia de Quito: aspectos económicos y sociales (siglos XVI-XVIII). Editorial Abya Yala (1998). ISBN 9978-72-084-7, ISBN 978-9978-72-084-4
  4. ^ Rivas, Julio (2012), Un sitio llamado San Francisco; Revista Clave!, Nov-Dec issue. [No me preocupa que Italia tenga a Miguel Ángel, en mis colonias de América yo tengo al maestro Caspicara.]