Novo-Hispanic school; beginning of the XVIII century.

Novo-Hispanic school; beginning of the XVIII century.
"Christ Vera effigy".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
Presents restorations.
Measurements: 114 x 81 cm.
Devotional work that follows the pictorial model of the Lord of the Tremors, venerated in the Cathedral of Cuzco. According to tradition, it was in 1650, after a violent earthquake that shook the city, when the image received the name by which it is known today. The work was carried in procession to implore the end of the disaster, and it is said that the earthquake ceased after its passage, which consolidated its miraculous fame and propitiated the expansion of its cult in different regions of the viceroyalty and the American continent.
In this invocation the Christ represented presents a very dark skin tone. This appearance is probably due to the use of a reduced chromatic palette. According to historical sources, this model arrived in Cuzco in the 16th century, possibly as a gift from the Spanish Crown, attributed to Charles V or Philip II, as part of the policies of evangelization of the Andean peoples. It is believed that it came to replace a previous representation of Christ known as the one of the Good Death, maintaining that name for several decades until the famous earthquake that transformed its denomination and its role in the ritual life of the city.
The fact that the indigenous communities name it Taitacha Temblores, where "Taitacha" is a Quechua word used to designate saints or deities, evidences the cultural appropriation and religious syncretism that characterize this devotion.
It is worth mentioning that during the Spanish colonial domination, a mainly religious painting was developed, aimed at Christianizing the indigenous peoples. The local painters were modeled on Spanish works, which they followed literally in terms of types and iconography. The most frequent models were the harquebusier angels and the triangular virgins, however, in the early years of the 19th century, already in times of independence and political opening of some of the colonies, several artists began to represent a new model of painting with its own identity, as in this particular case. Since in this work we can appreciate different images in which popular types are represented, who develop tasks related to the local tradition.