1000089343

hat first city lasted little more than a cent–

ury,

or in 1650 a great earthquake occurred,

hich destroyed practically all the public monu–

ments and private buildings of the earlier period

- the Cathedral, still unfinished, and the Church

o.f

Santa Clara alone escaping destruction.

Next carne the second period of Colonial art,

during which Cuzco was rebuilt as it is today,

and as it interests the archreologi.sts.

During almost three centuries, beginning

'"·ith

the Colonial period (corresponding to the

civilization of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries)

Cuzco was the center of a notable and prolific

artistic production, although this was not true of

any other citYi of Peru or in fact, Soutb America.

Obj ects of a weue expor-ted from Cuzco to the

arthest limi s of he doma1ns of the Spanish

' riceroy. Paintmgs, sculpture and jewelry from

Cuzco embe11. shed the temples, monasteries and

homes of Charcas, Chile and Argentine. The

olonial art has an orientation almost exclusively

r ligious. Architects, painters, sculptors and gold

and silver workers were under the spell of the

mvstic id al which was reborn in Peru-and

n1orf'

especially in Guzco-with that fervor and

consecration \Vhich characterized Europe in the

Middle _Ages.

Under the propitious conditions of the mo-

nasteries the artists found stiimulus and protec-

on ~

and here they enlarged their knowledge of

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