The muds of Chile and the evolution of the "submerged genres" of the Poor Clare Nuns of Santiago.
In the exhibition "Tornaviaje: Ibero-American Art in Spain" at the Museo del Prado (2021), a polychrome ceramic centrepiece from the 18th-century convent of Santa Clara in Santiago de Chile stood out among the objects on display. Its fine modelling and the originality of its iconography, featuring mermaids and centaurs painted in black that contrasted with gilded motifs of flowers and plants. The export of Chilean Barros was widely known and disseminated in the 18th century. Particularly relevant is the action of the French naturalist Joseph Dombey (Burdick, 2015) who, on his return from the Botanical Expedition to Peru between 1777 and 1784, took a set of these pieces to King Charles III, which are now kept in the Museum of America.The muds of Chile and the evolution of the "submerged genres" of the Poor Clare Nuns of Santiago.
Historian Isabel Cruz (2019,2021) reconstructs the everyday context of the convent of the Poor Clares, the diversity of origin of the women (indigenous servants, mestizos, black slaves, nuns of Spanish and Creole origin) who shared their experiences, customs and trades to create what Cruz identifies as the baroque function of perfumed ceramics, which involved the senses of touch, taste and smell.
Although various specialists, such as María Bichón (1947) and Macarena Murúa (2010) have highlighted the transmission of the techniques of the Poor Clare nuns in the art of locería developed in Talagante, there are no comparative works that, from an interdisciplinary and gender perspective between the history of art and anthropology, question the relationship between the ceramic production of the Poor Clare nuns in the 18th century and the current production of locería in Talagante.
This proposal sets out to take up this challenge through the historical reconstruction of the creative processes of the Poor Clare Nuns and the present-day master loceras, analysing the particular contexts of production and circulation in both cases.
Based on a review of the collections of these pieces in the archives of the Museo de América de Madrid, the Museo de Arte Popular de la Universidad de Chile MAPA, the Museo Histórico Nacional de Santiago MHN and the Museo de Arte Popular de Linares, we will describe the materialities, motifs and techniques of popular art, specifically the polychrome ceramic traditions of the maestras loceras of Talagante and Peñaflor. Finally, we will identify the transversal elements and underlying differences between the works that originate from the ceramics of Monjas Clarisas and the art of the locería of Talagante, observing the agency of the objects (Gell, 1998) and the confluence of meanings that both types of ceramic production develped.
Bibliography
-M. Bichón, En torno a la cerámica de las monjas. Imprenta Universitaria, Santiago, 1947.
-A. Contreras-Guerrero. “ Aquellas “curiosidades de Yndias”, pp 79-101. Torna Viaje, Arte Iberoamericano en España. Museo del Prado, Madrid, 2021.
-I.Cruz;A. Fuentes, “Entre lo permitido y lo prohibido: azúcar y despliegue de los sentidos en el barroco hispanoamericano. Las alcorzas de las monjas clarisas de Santiago de Chile ( siglos XVII y XVIII”, pp 192-209. Universum. Vol 36, Talca 2021.
-I. Cruz; A Fuentes, A.de la Taille. Cerámicas perfumadas de las monjas clarisas. Desde Chile hacia el mundo.Oficio, terapéutica y consumo, siglos XVI-XX. Ediciones UC, Santiago, 2019.
-J. Franco. “La cultura hispanoamericana en la época colonial”, pp.35-53. Historia de la literatura hispanoamericana, T 1 Época Colonial,Cátedra, Madrid 2012.
- Plotting Women. Gender and representation in Mexico, Columbia University Press, New York, 1989.
-M. Murúa, “The hands of nuns: The secret of the perfume”, pp 13-27 Cerámica Policromada Metropolitana. MAPA, Santiago 2010.
-A.Valdés, “Escritura de monjas durante la Colonia: el caso de Úrsula Suárez en Chile”, pp 196-214. Composición de lugar, escritos sobre cultura. Universitaria, Santiago, 1996.
Constanza Acuña Fariña. BA in History and Theory of Art from the University of Chile (1998). PhD. in Art History from the University of Bologna, Italy. She is currently associate professor of the Department of Theory of the Arts, Faculty of Arts, University of Chile and Academic Director of the faculty since 2022. Her main lines of work are the history of colonial art, iconology and historiography of Latin American art. Her research projects include: "Emerging Cartographies. Aesthetics of the public space of Santiago in the context of social revolt and pandemic 2019-2021" Interdisciplinary Nuclei Fund of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Chile, 2021-2022. "Iconological study of the series of paintings depicting the life of St. Francis of Assisi in the Colonial Museum of Santiago de Chile" (Fondecyt Regular 2013-2016), "The baroque image in the National Library: a reading of Athanasius Kircher's books" (Fondart 2010-2011), "Preliminary study for a history of the Tomás Lago Museum of American Popular Art" (Development Fund of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Chile 2009-2010).Among his latest publications: "Semillas de Civilización: el libro sobre costumbres y trajes del mundo de Lodovico Menin y su relación con la formación de la biblioteca de la Recoleta Dominica" (Seeds of Civilization: the book on customs and costumes of the world by Lodovico Menin and its relationship with the formation of the library of the Recoleta Dominica) https://www.investigacion.patrimoniocultural.gob.cl/publicaciones/semillas-de-civilizacion-el-libro-sobre-costumbres-y-trajes-del-mundo-de-lodovico. Research published by Ojo con la Lupa, of the subdirección de investigación del Ministerio de las Culturas el Arte y el Patrimonio. 2023. "On the horse's foot: a question about the energy contained in images", pp 31-64. In Emerging Cartographies: aesthetics of public space in Santiago in the context of social revolt and pandemic 2019-2021. DETUCH, Faculty of Arts, 2022. "Arte cileno contemporaneo", pp 65-86, Enciclopedia de Arte Contemporaneo, Treccani, Roma 2021. "The signature of Juan Zapaca Inga and the talking birds" pp.62-76 In Art and Social Justice, MNBA, Santiago,2017.. "Del Libro a la imagen: una aproximación a la Inmaculada Concepción a través del estudio de la Biblioteca del Convento de San Francisco de Santiago" pp. 193-209, Anales de la literatura Chilena año 17 diciembre 2016 número 26, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago; Tomás Lago, obras escogidas (Edición y prólogo junto a Gonzalo Arqueros), Ocholibros 2015, Santiago; "La expedición del padre Nicolás Mascardi a la Patagonia" pp 33-57. Revista de Historia Social y de las Mentalidades, USACH, Vol 18 Nº2 Jul-Dec 2014. José Gil de Castro, painter of liberators. Natalia Majluf Ed. MALI, Lima 2014. Perspectivas sobre el Coloniaje, Ed. Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago 2013. "La invención de una Arcadia andina: una aproximación a las figuras alegóricas de la pintura cusqueña La Profecía "pp. 49-57 Illapa año 10 Nº 10, Lima December 2013. The infinite curiosity of Athansius Kircher, Ocholibros, Santiago, 2012.
Link Universidad de Chile:https://uchile.cl/portafolio-academico/portafolio-academico/impresion/32948-Constanza-Acu%C3%B1a-Fari%C3%B1a
This proposal sets out to take the challenge of the historical reconstruction of the creative processes of the polychrome ceramic from the 18th-century convent of Santa Clara and the present-day master loceras of Talagante and Peñaflor, analysing the particular contexts of production and circulation in both cases. I will describe the materialities, motifs and techniques of the polychrome ceramic traditions of the maestras loceras. I will also identify the transversal elements and underlying differences between these works, observing the agency of the objects and the confluence of meanings that both types of ceramic production developed.