19 - Cuzco School,

Cuzco School, 18th century- Ángel arcabucero; oil on canvas laid on board, inscribed and dated 'ARCANGEL / ARCABVZERO / 1770' (lower left, within the cartouche), 59.5 x 40.5 cm. Note: The iconography of the 'ángel arcabucero'—an angel carrying an arquebus, an early firearm—developed in Spanish Viceregal Latin America, mainly in the city of Cuzco in Peru, in the 17th century. The Spanish prototypes for this iconography are thought to be the depictions of the Archangel Michael in armour painted by Zurbarán and his studio, exported to the New World and copied over and over [see Fundación Banco Santander, Francisco de Zurbarán, The Archangel Michael, inv. N/A]. Native Latin American artists active in the colonial territories then adopted this motif, developing it into the 'ángel arcabucero',which is crucially influenced by pre-Hispanic culture, traditional dress, and mythology.