Fine cloth, whether locally made or imported, was a vital feature of church adornment in the colonial Andes. This talk by Maya Stanfield-Mazzi explores how cloth was used to add meaning to Catholic ritual. It also shows how this abundance of cloth carried over into Andean paintings, where luxurious fabric was depicted to express holiness.
Stanfield-Mazzi is an art historian at the University of Florida specializing in art of Pre-Columbian and colonial Latin America, especially that of colonial Peru. She focuses on the ways in which native Amerindians contributed to creating new forms of Catholicism in the New World.
Originally posted at SniteArtMuseum.nd.edu.