Unidentified artist
The Defense of the Eucharist and Charles II (La defensa de la Eucaristía y Carlos II)circa 1675-1700

Not on view

Oil painting, two groups of armored figures in elaborate brocade garments flanking a tall column topped with a gold sunburst monstrance, with a radiant light above and a disembodied head in the lower left corner

Oil painting depicting a jewel-encrusted gold monstrance at center, radiating light, with a white dove above. Two armored figures flank it holding ribbons. Warm peach and gray tones with detailed decorative rendering.

Oil painting detail, close-up of a mustachioed man in a large red and white turban with a jeweled brooch and tassel, wearing a blue robe with gold embroidery, holding a curved sword; two additional figures visible behind him against a stormy sky.

Oil painting detail showing an orb painted with blue sky and clouds, topped with a gold imperial crown with red velvet and a cross finial, crossed by a gold scepter. Figures in armor and richly embroidered garments flank the regalia.

Artist or Maker: Unidentified artist
Title: The Defense of the Eucharist and Charles II (La defensa de la Eucaristía y Carlos II)
Place Made: Peru, Cuzco school
Date Made: circa 1675-1700
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Unframed: 62 × 48 7/16 in. (157.5 × 123 cm); framed: 69 × 55 1/4 × 2 1/2 in. (175.26 × 140.34 × 6.35 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Bernard and Edith Lewin Collection of Mexican Art Deaccession Fund
Accession Number: M.2021.42
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: This political allegory depicts Charles II (r. 1665–1700) as defender of the Catholic faith, while figures representing Islam and Protestantism try to topple the Holy Sacrament (a symbol of the Habsburg monarchy). The subject draws on Spanish political thought and related images, but this configuration was a Cuzco invention associated with the Spanish-born bishop Manuel de Mollinedo y Angulo (r. 1673–99). A staunch royalist, Mollinedo sought to reform local parishes and embellish the churches across his diocese. He commissioned over eighty gilded monstrances (similar to the one depicted here) for the region’s churches, and promoted new iconographies that celebrated Cuzco’s loyalty to the Spanish monarchy.

From exhibition Archive of the World, 2022 (for more information see the catalogue entry by Ilona Katzew in the accompanying publication, cat. no. 10, pp. 65–69)
Provenance: Private collection, Madrid, c. 1960–2019; Ansorena, Madrid, November 5, 2019, lot 303; Carteia Fine Arts, Madrid, 2019; LACMA, 2021.
Selected Bibliography: Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.
Selected Exhibition History: Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

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