III.

European Dominance

From about 1580 to 1650 European styles became dominant in Latin America, especially in the cities, where European power was concentrated. The native population was drastically reduced after the arrival of Europeans as a result of exposure to European diseases (to which Native Americans had no resistance), the loss of their own medical systems, and the exploitation of native labor. Continued European immigration and an increasing European economic advantage further weakened native cultures. By 1557 there were enough immigrant artists in Mexico City to found a guild. By 1600 European artistic traditions clearly dominated large-scale commissions at the centers of power in Mexico, Peru, and to a lesser extent, New Granada (now Ecuador and Colombia). These commissions were primarily for religious paintings intended for churches. In Mexico the Indochristian style became much less important in official church art, but it continued to influence folk art forms.

After 1580 artists of diverse European origins brought Spanish, Italian, and Flemish styles to Latin America. The Flemish element was particularly strong in Mexico and the Italian in Peru. These diverse European influences shared, among other things, the dramatic style known as Mannerism, which was characterized by exaggerated postures, discordant colors, and a shallow depiction of space that concentrated the action directly in front of the viewer. The next artistic generation, active from about 1610 to 1650, reformed that style in the direction of a quieter yet still spiritually charged realism.