Indigenous Influence In Colonial America

The art of the Americas was changed dramatically with the arrival of the Spanish and many aspects of European art and influence can be seen in the art of colonial America. However, there are still many significant examples of indigenous influence in colonial art. Whether one looks at the early works that were seen when the Spanish first arrived or the work that came in the late 1700s, the influence of the indigenous natives had a long ranging influence on various aspects of the art including materials, subjects, and details within the paintings, sculptures and architecture. When one thinks about early pieces of colonial art that have indigenous influences on them, one of the first things to come to mind is feather painting. The incorporation
In the beginning, the Spanish did not allow the indigenous natives create Christian sculptures because they were concerned as to how they would depict religious figures such as Christ. However, they slowly taught them how sculpting was done in Europe and the natives began to copy that, while also adding their own flair. One example of this is the Christ of the Earthquakes or Tata Taytacha. This work shows Christ on the cross, but the figure is in dark colors. This is thought to be representative of the darker shade of the native skin. This means the natives depicted Christ as being indigenous. This also shows that the natives are no longer just depicting the religion in their art because they are being forced to by the Spanish, but also because they are starting to feel as though they are a part of the religion and can relate to it. Another example from this time period has to do with the detail on the artwork. Textiles were always a very important part of the Peruvian culture and this was carried over into their artwork, whether it was in religious paintings to non-secular paintings. There are two major examples of works that support this idea. The first example of this can be seen in Asiel Timor Dei, Angel Harquebusier that shows an angel standing with a gun. It is thought that this was influenced by prints from Europe of soldiers, and then this idea was applied to the angels. The indigenous influence can be seen in the clothing, which has a lot of intricate details on it. Textiles were extremely important in Peru and the traditional dress of the Peruvians would be intricately decorated and would often be decorated in gold. This is clearly mirrored in the clothing of the angel in this piece. The second one is The Virgin as a Child Spinning Thread that shows the importance of textiles in many ways. First of all, the clothing of the virgin is heavily decorated