Anonymous Cusco Schoolca. 1690 - ca. 1720
Archangel Eliel with Harquebus
Oil on canvas
w1080 x h1685 cm (Complete)
Museode Art de Lima
The Cusco School or Cuzco School, was a Roman Catholic artistic tradition based in Cusco, Peru (the former capital of the Inca Empire) during the Colonial period, in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. It was not limited to Cusco only, but spread to other cities in the Andes, as well as to present day Ecuador and Bolivia.
Many colonial Cusco School paintings are preserved, most of them currently at Cusco, but also in other areas of Peru, the town of Calamarca (Bolivia) and in museums of Brazil, United States and England. More on The Cusco School
The theme of archangels had a surprising development in the art of the southern highlands of the viceroyalty of Peru. Replacing classic suits of armor and bladed weapons, depictions emerged of these heavenly emissaries with harquebuses and the elegant attire of artillery officers. They were grouped in series, like military companies led by soldiers adorned with flags and drummers, and they adopted the poses of men performing firearms drills. Among their names, in addition to those of the traditional seven archangels, there appear mysterious names from ancient prophetic or hermetic Judeo-Christian texts. Such is the case with this Archangel Eliel, who is symbolized by a key. Eliel is an angel depicted in Aramaic texts as a spirit invoked through magical rituals. It has been suggested that the intention of this type of representation was to establish a bridge between the worship in pre-Hispanic Peru of winged deities and the religion imposed upon the indigenous population by the Spanish. Certainly, the natives associated the harquebus with Illapa, their old god of thunder and lightning. More on this painting
Anonymous (Peruvian, 18th century)
Ángel Arcabucero
oil on canvas
513⁄8 x 311⁄4 in. (130.4 x 79.4 cm.)
Private collection
In eighteenth century Peru, extraordinary depictions of ángeles arcabuceros or angels bearing muskets or “arquebuses" flourished, most notably in the artistic centers of Cuzco and the Altiplano regon of Calamarca. Numerous accounts tell of workshops in the region that employed foreign and local artisans, apprentices and others that were dedicated to the creation of religious paintings, sculptures and decorations for churches, convents and monastaries. Evangelization fueled this manufacture and consumption of sacred images and objects.
The subect of ángeles arcabuseros, was a novel subject in the 18th century, and a distinctly new world phenomenon. These armed angels, clothed in sumptuous garments that mimicked the aristocratic fashion of the time, proved potent didactic images that resonated with the evangelical mission in the Americas. The harquebus was a firearm at the vanguard of weaponry technology and had been used in European wars since the early seventeenth century, inspiring awe and commanding power. The native population which included the Inca royalty could also identify with these exalted creatures who, like them, were warriors. Their abundant plumage-adorned hats and their exquisite feathered wings conveyed a supernatural manifestation which encouraged pious veneration. This dazzling portrayal of a fearless angelic soldier continued to be used as a powerful symbol of the Church Militant during the Counter Reformation in the Americas. The stunning winged creatures were God’s army and defenders of the faith and all Christians against heresy that included Protestant ideology and the pantheon of Inca gods. More on ángeles arcabuceros
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