Lettered Artists and the Languages of Empire: Painters and the Profession in Early Colonial Quito

Quito,Ecuador,wasoneofcolonialSouthAmerica'smostimportantartisticcenters.YettheliteratureonpaintingincolonialQuitolargelyignoresthefirstcenturyofactivity,reducingittoa"handfulofnames,"writesSusanVerdiWebster.Inthismajornewworkbasedonextensiveandlargelyunpublishedarchivaldocumentation,Websteridentifiesandtracesthelivesofmorethanfiftypainterswhopliedtheirtradeinthecitybetween1550and1650,revealingtheirmasteryoflanguagesandliteraciesandthecircumstancesinwhichtheyworkedinearlycolonialQuito.OverturningmanytraditionalassumptionsaboutearlyQuitenoartists,Websterestablishesthattheseartists-mostofwhomwereAndean-functionedasvisualintermediariesandmultifacetedculturaltranslatorswhoharnessedawealthofspecializedknowledgetoshapegraphic,pictorialworldsforcolonialaudiences.Operatinginanurbanmediascapeoflayeredlanguagesandempires-acolonialSpanishrealmofalphabeticscriptandmimeticimageryandacolonialAndeanworldofdiscursivegraphic,material,andchromaticforms-Quitenopaintersdominatedboththepenandthebrush.WebsterdemonstratesthattheQuitenoartistsenjoyedfluencyinseveralareas,rangingfromalphabeticliteracyandsophisticatedscribalconventionstospecializedknowledgeofpictoriallanguages:thematerials,technologies,andchemistryofpainting,inadditiontoperspective,proportion,andiconography.Thismasteryenabledartiststodeploylanguagesandliteracies-alphabetic,pictorial,graphic,chromatic,andmaterial-toobtainpowerandstatusinearlycolonialQuito.