The Art of Painting in Colonial Quito / El arte de la pintura en Quito colonial ed. by Suzanne L. Stratton-Pruitt

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Art of Painting in Colonial Quito / El arte de la pintura en Quito colonial ed. by Suzanne L. Stratton-Pruitt Clara Bargellini The Art of Painting in Colonial Quito / El arte de la pintura en Quito colonial. Edited by Suzanne L. Stratton-Pruitt; organized by Judy de Bustamante. [Early Modern Catholicism and the Visual Arts Series, Vol. 6.] (Philadelphia: St. Joseph’s University Press. 2012. Pp. xiv, 223. $75.00. ISBN 978-0-916101-69-5.) This is a remarkable publication, and yet another example of the contributions of the St. Joseph’s University Press to studies of important yet little known Latin American visual materials. In this handsome volume, a selection of more than eighty paintings from late-sixteenth- to early-nineteenth-century Quito are presented in excellent reproductions, with an informative historical introduction by Carmen Fernández Salvador and explanatory texts in both English and Spanish. A bibliography and an index of proper names complete the book. The general idea of the editor, Suzanne L. Stratton-Pruitt, and the organizer, Judy de Bustamante, was to present these paintings in the guise of a virtual exhibition. The paintings are in mostly chronological order, and each is discussed by one of a team of scholars. Stratton-Pruitt is well known for her contributions to projects on Latin American colonial painting and has worked on major museum exhibitions of these types of materials, so this “exhibition” in a book is an obvious solution to the basic problems presented by these paintings: how to make them more widely known so that they may be better studied and adequately conserved. The fact that Ecuadorian scholars and institutions collaborated in this project will help achieve these goals. What first strikes the reader is the high quality of these works. Many are truly outstanding. Although the names of a few artists are known in the field of Quito paintings—Miguel de Santiago immediately comes to mind—it is astounding that most of the works presented in this book are by still anonymous masters. Stratton-Pruitt summarizes the historiography, and Fernández Salvador provides general outlines of the little that is known about the history of painting in Quito. Certainly the photographs stand out, presenting one revelation after another. Of course, images of some of the paintings already have been published, and a few works have been exhibited internationally, but even these acquire more presence in this volume, accompanied as they are by numerous other works of similar quality. Also, much of the iconography, although not entirely surprising for a Spanish American context, is nevertheless intriguingly peculiar. Accompanying the illustrations, the texts register the historiography of each of the paintings and also contribute to questions of condition, attribution, and iconography. At every step, observations are made for which the reader can only be grateful. Often the discussion of iconography takes over the catalog entries. Although informative for understanding the subject of each painting, iconography can provide greater depths of comprehension when it includes more comparative observations. Some of the entries do, in fact, discuss the relationship of the particular composition, if appropriate, to the traditions of Ecuador, Spanish America, and Spain. More of this type of analysis is necessary for greater understanding. Obviously, there is much research to be done, such as on the paintings’ materiality, supports, colors, [End Page 438] pigments, and physical makeup and condition. This book certainly provides the inspiration to continue to think about and to study more deeply these and other paintings in Ecuador and in all of Latin America that are still too little known. Clara Bargellini Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Mexico City Copyright © 2016 The Catholic University of America Press