RESERVED
Virgen de Candelaria (Virgin with a candle)
School of Cuzco.
Peru.
18th century.
Oil on canvas.
When the Spaniards conquered the Inka Empire, reverence for the Inka gods would persist in Christian images of the Virgin Mary, the Catholic queen. People have venerated the Virgin Mary for centuries, but in Cuzco, Peru, she is depicted as a distinctive image that merges Christian and Andean concepts.
A characteristic of the frequent mixture of cultures and religions in the Cuzco school are, among other things, the trapezoidal representations of the Madonna, also visible in the current painting. These depictions recall the silhouette of the Apu mountain, which was worshiped as a god. Long, black hair is a reference to matriarchy, still prominent in Andean culture until today. In a modern setting.
Unfortunately we are unable to take clear photos due to the presence of the glass.