Francisco Tito Yupanqui (1550–1616) was an

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

sculptor of the Viceroyalty of Peru. He sculptured renowned

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

statues such as the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

in what is now

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

, known as Our Lady of Candles (also known as Our Lady of Copacabana), one of the most celebrated Marian images located at

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, ...

in Bolivia.

Background

Yupanqui was born in Copacabana of Tola and Francisco Tito Yupanqui Sr. His family were '' Anansayas'', or descendants of

Quechua people Quechua people (, ; ) or Quichua people, may refer to any of the aboriginal people of South America who speak the Quechua languages, which originated among the Indigenous people of Peru. Although most Quechua speakers are native to Peru, there ...

who relocated to Copacabana with the

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 ...

. He came from a family recently converted to Roman Catholicism by the Dominican priests but like many of the time, retained some of the

Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...

religious beliefs.

''Our Lady of Copacabana''

Under the influence of the Dominicans, Yupanqui's monotheistic beliefs increased while studying religion and started admiring the works of European religious art. Legend has it that one night, a beautiful woman carrying in her arms a child appeared in the fourth month of the Indian calendar and was charged with the task of making the image. This image later became known as ''Nuestra Senora de Virgen de la Candelaria'' or Our Virgin Lady of the Candles. Father Antonio Montoro, who was the presiding parish priest at the time insisted that the image of the virgin be likened to European faces, but Yupanqui insisted that the face of the statue be likened that to the native people of Bolivia.

Later art career

Later in his life, Yupanqui created three other replicas of his famed Marian image and sent to three different places. One statue resides in Cocharcas, Peru while another one is located in

Pucarani Pucarani (from Aymara language, Aymara Pukarani) is a small town in the La Paz Department, Bolivia, La Paz Department in Bolivia. It is the seat of the Pucarani Municipality, the first Municipalities of Bolivia, municipal section of the Los Andes ...

, Bolivia and another was sent to Tucumán in northern Argentina. The sculpture ''Our Lady of Cocharcas'' is attributed to him

Death and sainthood

Yupanqui later died in 1616 in the monastery of Oblates of the

Order of Saint Augustine The Order of Saint Augustine, ( la, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini) abbreviated OSA, is a religious mendicant order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were fo ...

Cusco 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 list of cities in Peru, seventh m ...

, Bolivia. The statue Yupanqui made was crowned Queen of Bolivia on August 1, 1925 by the

Republic of Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

, as accorded with national honors by the centenary of the country, with the participation of President

Bautista Saavedra Bautista Saavedra Mallea (30 August 1870 in Sorata – 1 May 1939) was a Bolivian lawyer and politician who served as the 29th president of Bolivia from 1921 to 1925. Prior to that, he was part of a governing junta from 1920 to 1921. As le ...

, officiating Archbishop Augusto Sieffert in a solemn High Mass and religious ceremony, along with Monsignor Gaetano Cicognani, the

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

to Bolivia sent by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

. In 2011, the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bolivia petitioned the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

to canonize Yupanqui as the first saint of Bolivia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tito Yupanqui, Francisco 1550 births 1616 deaths Bolivian Roman Catholics Bolivian sculptors People from Manco Kapac Province Bolivian people of Quechua descent Indigenous sculptors of the Americas 16th-century sculptors 16th-century venerated Christians Bolivian Servants of God Male sculptors Catholic sculptors