Full Description
An examination of sculpture and authorship in eighteenth-century Quito that documents Caspicara as a participant in the innovative artistic production of the city's workshops and its widespread commerce of polychrome sculptures.
Who is Caspicara? Nothing is known of Caspicara's life, and not a single sculpture has been documented as his work. Yet traditional histories laud him as a prolific Indigenous sculptor in eighteenth-century Quito who created exquisite polychrome figures and became a national artistic icon. Drawing on extensive archival, historical, and object research, Susan Verdi Webster peels away layers of historiographical fabrication to reveal what we do and do not know about Caspicara and his work.
Rather than being a solitary master, Caspicara collaborated with other, largely Indigenous artists in Quito's protoindustrial workshops, manufacturing sculptures now credited to him alone. The high quality of Quito sculptures produced by anonymous artists turned the city into a hub of wide-ranging commerce in religious icons. The art world and post-independence Ecuadorians have lionized the one named sculptor, Caspicara, according to the Western model of the artist-genius, amplifying the market for works bearing his name and creating a national hero on par with European masters. Lost in this process were the artists themselves. Webster returns to their world, detailing their methods and labor and, for the first time, documenting a sculpture made by Caspicara.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Inventing Caspicara
2. Painted Sculpture: The Paragone and Division of Labor in Quito
3. Caspicara in the Taller
4. Bultos and Body Parts: The Production and Commerce of Quito Sculpture
5. Caspicara in the Archive
6. Tracking Caspicara in PopayÁn: Confraternities and Holy Week
7. Hidden Figures: Caspicara and Quito Sculpture
8. Subsidiary Figures: More Commissions from Quito
9. Mise en ScÈne: Sculptures in Motion
Conclusion: Seeing Caspicara Anew
Appendix A. Last Will and Testament of Juan Manuel Legarda (Excerpt), 1773
Appendix B. Inventory of the Confraternity of Saint Peter, PopayÁn, 1777
Appendix C. Artistic Commissions from Quito to PopayÁn, 1792-1802
Notes
Bibliography
Index