Syncretism in Art

At one point during our travels, me and some others entered an art shop. It had a lot of the standard, touristy items - paintings of Machu Picchu, the streets of Lima, and the sacred Inca animals, but it also had some much more interesting paintings. On one wall, there was an enormous painting of the last supper, but everyone in it was dressed in traditional Inca clothing, and there was cuy on the table. The other painting that caught my eye was a beautiful portrait of an angel, only this angel was wearing Inca clothing and brandishing a musket.

The blending of cultures in the art at this art shop is representative of a larger blending of cultures between the Spanish and the Inca. In Cusco, the locals still celebrate both Corpus Christi, a Christian festival celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus, and Inti Raymi, the Inca festival celebrating the winter solstice, within a couple weeks of each other. Many Peruvians still speak Quechua, some as a first language, and there are churches in Peru that conduct mass in Quechua.

All of this is possible because the first conquistadors allowed the Inca to keep most of their traditions. While the Spanish looted all the gold and silver they could find and tried to replace the local religions with Catholicism, they also granted considerable rights to Inca nobles, making them almost equal to Spaniards. In addition, the Spanish didn't bring any wives with them, so they married Inca women. In Inca culture, the wife is charged with preserving the culture, and their Spaniard husbands allowed this tradition to continue, allowing the Inca customs to be passed down.

This rich history is what drives Cusco today - its architecture, its culture, and its flourishing tourism industry. Seeing those paintings in that art shop made me truly appreciate how deep this cultural connection runs in Cusqueñan society.