The painting was done by hand in Cuzco, Peru, where artists have been making sacred art this way for almost five hundred years. The Cuzco school began in the 1500s when Spanish missionaries trained Quechua and mestizo painters to make devotional works for the new churches of the Andes. What came out of that integration was its own thing entirely. The gold brocade detail on every garment, the raised halos, and the warmth in the faces are all signatures of the tradition. The close-up images show the level of detail: individual rays on each halo, gold lace on Christ's loincloth, stars on Mary's mantle. This is the most intricate piece in the collection.
