Indochristian art

During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian monks extensively converted indigenous peoples to Christianity, introducing them to European arts and aesthetics.

Reyes-Valerio's work focused on the painting and sculpture of churches and monasteries in New Spain, but had broader implications for the analysis of art throughout Latin America.

Reyes-Valerio's coinage of the term indochristian art was based on his 45 years of experience studying pre-Columbian and colonial monuments throughout Mexico.

The term “Tequitqui” was created by Jose Moreno Villa to categorize artistic works with a fusion of Spanish and Indigenous elements.

The term becomes increasingly difficult to apply to art in the late colonial and post-colonial periods, however, as it relies upon a clearly defined opposition between indigenous artist and Euro-Christian themes.

The way that indochristian art is defined overlooks the entanglement of Native and European identities and the mixing of cultures that gradually developed throughout Latin America.

As Augustinian, Dominican, and Franciscan missionaries attempted to convert the native populations of the Americas, their techniques varied widely, but frequently involved threats of violence.

Murals, paintings, architectural designs, sculptures, and ornamental objects all were frequently created by native craftspeople and incorporated indigenous iconography.

[13]Based on pre-columbian artistic traditions, Cusqueño painters created artworks anonymously and included native flora and fauna in their works.

[16] From a Euro-Christian perspective, the nuns' bridal trappings allude to the Virgin Mary crowned, symbolizing mystical marriage to God and victory over sin.

In addition, the bird and butterfly imagery that is frequently included in crowned nun portraits may symbolize indigenous beliefs regarding the soul and the afterlife.