Pigments and Power in the Andes: From the Material to the Symbolic in Andean Cultural Practices 1500-1800

This is the English language edition of El Poder de los Colores by Gabriela Siracusano, published by Fondo de Cultura Economica, Buenos Aires 2005 - the result of a study of cultural practices related to the uses of coloring materials in the South American Andean region during the Colonial period (XVI to XVIII centuries) and their ‘powerful’ presence in the images of the Conquest. It offers the reader a new insight into the techniques and use of colour in Andean Colonial painting. Starting with an analysis of the images and the concept of representation during the process of evangelization/domination, the book shows the discursive and iconographic strategies used by different parties to achieve several goals through the use of color. The book’s main hypothesis is that colors were silent protagonists of the Andean ritual system, a fact that was identified only by certain ‘idol exterminators’ who tried to ‘rebrand’ them by giving them a Christian meaning.