(left) Women in Procession for the Festival of San Juan de Dios, Francisco (Pancho) Fierro, from "Lima Costumes" by Archibald Smith, ca. 1853
(right) Specimen of Knots Supposed to Be Original Peruvian Quipoes, by Agostino Aglio, Italian, 1831–1848, Hand-colored lithograph, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute

Getty Museum Exhibit On Peru

Until October 19, you can view an exhibit (“The Marvel and Measure of Peru: Three Centuries of Visual History, 1550-1880”) based on the first three centuries of Peruvian-European engagement. (http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/peru/). Says the Los Angeles Times: “The small exhibit chronicles the way European perceptions of Peru changed from its first appearance on maps until the advent of photography …” See http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-peru13-2008jul13,0,6311114.story

By coincidence, former Amigos Board member, Steve Jacobs (Bolivia 63-66) was visiting the Museum for another exhibit when he spotted this show. He is working on his dissertation at Tulane University pertaining to the cultural history of Sucre, Bolivia, heading towards a Ph.D. in Latin American Studies. Steve writes: “(The museum) has one of the original volumes of (Peruvian native) Guaman Poma de Ayala’s book on loan from the Royal Library in Copenhagen. I’ve spent quite a bit of time studying edited versions and facsimiles but to see the real book – hand written by Guaman himself – was a real thrill. BTW, the Royal Library has the book online at http://www.kb.dk/permalink/2006/poma/info/es/frontpage.htm”