1590 · Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

The picture represents an "Indian" feather picture, in which the pictorial motif is composed of many small, colourfully dazzling bird feathers. It originates from Michoacán, Mexico, where the pre-Hispanic art of feather painting flourished in the early colonial period under the auspices of Bishop Vasco de Quiroga (1470-1565) at trade schools attached to the region's Augustinian monasteries, particularly the one in Tiripetio, and later in workshops in other towns around Lake Pátzcuaro. The shown example and its companion piece representing the Weeping Virgin, were signed by Juan Bautista Cuiris.Show more