18th C. Spanish Colonial Painting Archangel w/ Harqebus

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Ancient / Ethnographic Art Through The Ages

By Artemis Gallery

Jan 7, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-01-07 10:00:00 2021-01-07 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Ancient / Ethnographic Art Through The Ages https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/ancient-ethnographic-art-through-the-ages-6258
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• Lot Description
  Spanish Colonial, Peru, probably Cuzco School, ca. 18th century CE. A magnificent oil on canvas painting of a lavishly dressed archangel holding a type of gun known as a harquebus (see more on this below) in his right hand and over his shoulder as well as a petite red bird in his left hand. The archangel stands proudly looking out with his big brown eyes. He wears a luxurious royal blue cloak adorned with gold floral motifs and beautiful trim of golden spiral motifs, a blousy white shirt with lace cuffs, a white neckerchief tied in a neat knot, white stockings, black shoes with white bows, and a red scarf or garment tied over his left shoulder that cascades to his feet with golden floral trim. This exceptional painting is set in an ornately carved, gilded frame emanating an opulence befitting its subject. Size with frame: 12" W x 15.625" H (30.5 cm x 39.7 cm); Size without frame: 9" W x 12.75" H (22.9 cm x 32.4 cm)
  
  According to scholar Abigail Lapin , "Depictions of androgynous, stunningly attired, harquebus (a type of gun) carrying angels were produced from the late-seventeenth century through the nineteenth century in the viceroyalty of Peru (a Spanish colonial administrative region which incorporated most of South America, and was governed from the capital of Lima, c. 1534–1820). First appearing in Peru these images were widespread throughout the Andes, in places such as La Paz, Bolivia, and as far as present-day Argentina. Representing celestial, aristocratic, and military beings all at once, these angels were created after the first missionizing period, as Christian missionary orders persistently sought to terminate the practice of pre-Hispanic religions and enforce Catholicism."
  
  Lapin continues, "The harquebus is a firearm with a long barrel created by the Spanish in the mid-fifteenth century. It was the first gun to rest on the shoulder when being fired and was at the forefront of military weapon technology at the time. During the early eighteenth century, the Bolivian painter, the Master of Calamarca—identified as Jose Lopez de los Rios—or his workshop created a well known series of paintings depicting angels with harquebuses, which included Archangel with Gun, Asiel Timor Dei." (Abigail Lapin, "Master of Calamarca, Angel with Arquebus" Khan Academy.
  
  The Cuzco School (Escuela Cuzquena) was a Roman Catholic artistic tradition which originated following the 1534 Spanish Conquest of the Inca Empire and continued during the Colonial Period in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Though based in Cusco, Peru (the former capital of the Inca Empire), the Cuzco School extended to other cities of the Andes, present day Bolivia, and Ecuador. Today it is regarded as the first artistic center that taught European visual art techniques in the Americas. The primary intention of Cuzco School paintings was to be didactic. Hoping to convert the Incas to Catholicism, the Spanish sent religious artists to Cusco who created a school for the Quechua peoples and mestizos. Interestingly, Cusquena art was created by the indigenous as well as Spanish creoles. In addition to religious subjects, the Cuzco School expressed their cultural pride with paintings of Inca monarchs. Despite the fact that Cuzco School painters had studied prints of Flemish, Byzantine, and Italian Renaissance art, these artists' style and techniques were generally freer than that of their European models.
  
  Provenance: ex private Ventura County, California, USA collection, acquired prior to 2008
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #150259

  Condition

  The painting is quite strong with vivid imagery and brilliant jewel tone hues. There is nice craquelure, but the composition of the painting is quite stable. The frame dates later than the painting, but complements it well. Stamped on stretcher with "TALLER DE ARTE COLONIAL" and "Ariel Mariaca M. PINTOR RESTAURADOR". Restored in areas, but very well done and barely distinguishable.
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