Iconographic analysis of the pictorial works of the colonial era in Guatemala (16th to 18th centuries), exhibited in the colonial art museum of Antigua Guatemala.

Abstract

Guatemalan colonial art arises thanks to the constant relationship of the inhabitants of the then new continent with those from the European continent. This propitiated the artistic-cultural exchanges thus opening a new possibility of artistic development of society. This is reflected in the advances of the fine arts at the time, in the implementation, improvement and interpretation of sculpture, architecture and painting. This is even in the creation of workshops with national artists.

The main objective of the research was to develop an iconographic reading of the most representative paintings of the colonial era in Guatemala, which is from the 16th to the 18th century and which are currently exhibited in the Museum of Colonial Art of Antigua Guatemala in a catalog of the works and thus contribute to the efforts to document national art.

 This allows to put in context any person who has access to research, whether or not an expert in art. This account has a first chapter with all the basic information about painting, a general chronology of trends throughout history and their possible compositions. techniques and their relationship with religion. This contains a legal framework for the formality of the subject, since the looting to which the heritage of our country has been exposed and the difficulties experienced in the process to obtain access to the pieces studied oblige us to know more the legislation and must guarantee the protection of these artistic works of incalculable value. As a fourth step, a historical context is created to place the reader in tune with what was happening at the time of the creation of the works. It also allows to know how all this directly influenced the art and the themes to be represented. In the fifth chapter we find the cataloging of the paintings grouping them firstly by authors and then in pictorial cycles or themes in common. as a last step the sequence or chronology that the cycles may have mainly. It is from this order that the iconographic reading of each piece is carried out diagramming the sheets in which each work is presented in three parts. Pre-iconography: this consists of the general description of the work, Iconography where the characters that make up the painting are located, identified and described. who they are and their main attributes. Finally, Iconology is where an interpretation of the work is carried out according to the history, the historical context and the symbology found within the work. Finally, from all the information included in the readings there is a summary of the symbology found in the pieces in an iconographic glossary format that may be useful for future readings.