The Franciscan Immaculada

1670-1680

Quispe Tito, Diego (1611-1681)

Denver, CO, USA, Denver Art Museum (current location); Cuzco, PER (orig. location)

This painting was created by one of the leading indigenous painters of the 17th-century Andes, Diego Quispe Tito. Demand for such images, which were often inspired by European prints, was great in Cuzco, given the wealth of the city and its great building campaigns. By the 17th century, the city had not only Spanish masters but also indigenous ones creating objects to express religious devotion.

The painting shows a particularly Franciscan devotion to Mary, signaled by the presence of Saint Francis on the left and another Franciscan on the right, probably Saint Anthony of Padua, Francis’s friend and acolyte. Both have tonsured heads and wear the rough grey-brown robes of the Franciscans. The Virgin Mary is intercessor between human beings and God, pictured here as the identical figures of God the Father and the Son with a bird symbolizing the Holy Spirit between them. Because of this role, Mary attracted more devotees than any other holy figure and images like this one were a way the faithful channeled their beliefs. This kind of painting, presenting a holy figure but not a narrative, is part of a long tradition of icon painting, and also relies on symbolism to convey meaning. The fountain is a metaphor for Mary’s purity. Mary is identifiable as the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception because of her perch on a crescent moon and the cowed beast beneath her feet. The inspiration for this iconography came from the Book of Revelation, and Quispe Tito probably knew it both from other paintings in Cuzco, and from European prints.

Diego Quispe Tito was born and worked in Cuzco, Peru, and he became one of the most respected indigenous painters of the 17th century. His work was sent to Potosí and it was displayed in the Cuzco cathedral. This painting was created circa 1675, towards the end of Quispe Tito’s life (1611-1681).

The painting measures 167.7 x 124.4 cm, and is oil on canvas with gold leaf overlay.

In Cuzco, a distinctive school of painting developed in the 17th and 18th centuries. Known today as the Cuzco School, its artists often emphasized the use of gold leaf, particularly in the robes of holy figures and landscapes. In 1684, the indigenous painters of Cuzco formed their own painting guild, and although Quispe Tito had died a few years earlier, his work inspired later Cuzco School painters.

Diego Quispe Tito was known to have worked from Flemish prints and engravings, although his paintings are unique creations. As a painter whose work hung in the Cuzco Cathedral, the most important religious building of the city, Quispe Tito clearly had important local patrons. In the 17th century, his painting of the Virgin Mary sought to evoke holiness. Today, it suggests how well-accepted the work of a talented indigenous painter could be in viceregal Peru.

Reproduced courtesy of the Denver Art Museum. Gift of John Critcher Freyer for the Frank Barrows Freyer Collections

Dana Leibsohn and Barbara E. Mundy.
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