Abstract
This article deals with interpretations of images on silver ecclesiastical objects from the Southern Andes dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. The silverworks communicate contents on a nonverbal level and are integrated into ritual acts in the context of church services; this facilitates associations with non-Christian beliefs. If the images are studied by means of a combination of various analytical levels, transcultural processes become apparent in the images on the objects studied, and meanings emerge that would not have been brought to light by simple image analysis. This applies particularly to the comparison with possible indigenous meanings of European images, which enables a much more comprehensive interpretation. Depending on the beholder, the images may be interpreted as expressing continuity, i.e., as representations of indigenous beliefs; as expressing discontinuity, i.e., as representations of Christian beliefs; or as the result of a transfer of meaning encompassing and combining both belief systems, thus enabling a new way of “reading” them. However, a transcultural process of regional relocation and use of cultural elements is not only visible in the images; it is also illustrated by the ecclesiastical silverworks in the Americas as such, given the European influence manifest in them.
Highlights
IntroductionThe continuity of pre-Hispanic/indigenous religions has its basis in transcultural processes
The images may be interpreted as expressing continuity, i.e., as representations of indigenous beliefs; as expressing discontinuity, i.e., as representations of Christian beliefs; or as the result of a transfer of meaning encompassing and combining both belief systems, enabling a new way of “reading” them
A transcultural process of regional relocation and use of cultural elements is visible in the images; it is illustrated by the ecclesiastical silverworks in the Americas as such, given the European influence manifest in them
Summary
The continuity of pre-Hispanic/indigenous religions has its basis in transcultural processes These religions are witnessing a powerful renaissance in the context of the current political developments in Bolivia, and can be viewed as the foundation of an emerging new concept of the self. The 17th- and 18th-century ecclesiastical silverworks from the Southern Andes region, the antependia and candle banks, are decorated with a multitude of angels, angel-like beings, and birds. They are well suited for demonstrating the simultaneousness of continuity and discontinuity on the one hand, and for illustrating the concept of multiple interpretations on the other. The focus will be on two winged anthropomorphic beings on the altar of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Sucre (in colonial times called Charcas, Chuquisaca, and La Plata), Bolivia, in the southern Andes
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