Diego Quispe Tito (1611–1681) was a

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

painter from

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. He is considered the leader of the

Cuzco School The Cusco School (''Escuela cuzqueña'') or Cuzco School, was a Roman Catholic artistic tradition based in Cusco, Peru (the former capital of the Inca Empire) during the Colonial period, in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. It was not limited to ...

of painting.

Background

The son of a noble

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

family, Quispe Tito was born in

Cuzco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru; ...

, and worked throughout his life in the district of San Sebastián; his house remains, and shows his

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

on its door.

Art career

Quispe Tito's earliest signed painting is an ''

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

'' from 1627, gilded in a fashion typical of the Cuzco school. His work is in the style of Spanish Mannerism and

Flemish painting Flemish painting flourished from the early 15th century until the 17th century, gradually becoming distinct from the painting of the rest of the Low Countries, especially the modern Netherlands. In the early period, up to about 1520, the painting ...

."Cuzco School."
''Encyclopædia Britannica.'' Retrieved 7 Oct 2013. Quispe Tito is believed to have learned these styles from

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Jesuit

Bernardo Bitti Democrito Bernardo Bitti (1548–1610) was an Italian Jesuit priest and painter. He introduced Mannerism to Peru, where he went on a Jesuit mission after having studied in Rome. On his way to Peru, Bitti traveled through Spain, where he bec ...

, who was active at the time in Cuzco. In addition, he is believed to have known

Luis de Riaño Luis de Riaño (1596–c. 1667) was a Peruvian criollo painter, active in the 17th-century. His work is an important representation of Cusco School, the Peruvian colonial painting style. Biography Luis de Riaño was born in 1596 in Lima, Vicer ...

in his youth, and may have derived some elements of his style from the older artist; de Riaño, a painter from

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

, had trained in the workshop of

Angelino Medoro Angelino Medoro (1567–1631) was an Italian painter during the 17th-century, active in Latin America. His work in the Viceroyalty of Peru was greatly influential on the Cuzco School art movement. Biography Angelino Medoro was born in 1567 in p ...

, and so would have provided another source of Italian influence. Quispe Tito also was influenced in his work by

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

s from

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

; indeed, his best-known work, the 1681 ''Signs of the

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pat ...

'' in Cuzco Cathedral, is a series of copies of Flemish engravings in which each zodiac sign is tied to a parable from the life of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. These engravings were designed for distribution in Peru, where worship of the

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

, and stars was still practiced in some quarters; they were designed to encourage worship of Christ and His miracles in place of the zodiac. A further series, depicting scenes from the life of

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

and dating to 1663, was also produced on Flemish models. Quispe Tito also incorporated several personal elements into his work; most notable was his use of gilding and his depiction of spacious landscapes filled with

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s and

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

s. In 1667 he painted several scenes from the life of Christ, which were sent to Potosí.

Death

Quispe Tito died in

in 1681.

Notes

External links

Artnet.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quispe Tito, Diego 1611 births 1681 deaths Peruvian Mannerist painters Colonial Peru Peruvian people of Quechua descent Latin American artists of indigenous descent Cusco School People from Cusco 17th-century indigenous painters of the Americas 17th-century Peruvian people Catholic painters

Background

Art career

Death

See also

Notes

External links