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Images: The exhibition is drawn from the Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection and is co-organized bythe Museum of Biblical Art, New York, and Art Services
International Alexandria, Virginia
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Power and Piety: Spanish Colonial Art
August 20 – November 12, 2016
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, cattle ranching and
cash crop cultivation transformed Latin American elites into
some of the wealthiest people in the world. Such affluence
invigorated the production and consumption of art made with
American gold and silver as well as woods with colors and grains
of unparalleled richness. The most opulent pieces were procured
by churches, local nobility, and the wealthiest individuals.
Meanwhile, slightly less refined works were available to a mass
market with more modest assets. Spanish colonial art rivaled
the beauty and sublimity of objects treasured by European
connoisseurs. This exhibition features dozens of paintings,
sculptures, silver pieces, furnishings, and decorative devotional
objects accentuating the talents of local artisans and the tastes
of art patrons across the Atlantic World. The exhibition provides
an opportunity to appreciate priceless artifacts while learning
about the exchange of ideas and aesthetics between the Old and
the New Worlds.