Circulation of Ideas and Transformation of Catholic Art in Santiago, Chile, 19th Century

Abstract

Starting in the last four decades of the nineteenth century, a discourse regarding
colonial art began to develop in Chile. This discourse’s judgments and observations addressed
artworks produced before independence from Spain, which began in 1810, but also those
paintings and sculptures that, following the traditions adopted in colonial workshops, continued to
be manufactured and sold well into the nineteenth century. In the set of texts discussing this topic,
we detect two main concerns. On the one hand, these discussions reveal a preoccupation relating
to the artistic value of the architecture, paintings, and carvings; and on the other, of the artworks’
ability to promote religiosity. Without a doubt, in the course of this century, it appears that the
prevalent opinion had determined that colonial artworks did not contribute to the development of
what was then considered in good taste and that its presence in churches referred to forms of
devotion that had to be overcome.