Basilio Santa Cruz Pumacallao facts for kids
Basilio Pacheco de Santa Cruz Pumacallao (born around 1635, died around 1710) was a famous Peruvian painter. He was of Quechua (Inca) and Ladino background from Cusco, Peru. Basilio was a key artist in the Cuzco School. This was a group of local painters during the colonial period who learned the Baroque style of religious painting from Spain.
About Basilio Santa Cruz
Basilio Santa Cruz is also known by his Quechua name, Pumaqallo or Pumacallo. He and Diego Quispe Tito are considered two of the most important painters from the Cusco School. He lived in the 1600s when Peru was a Spanish colony, known as the Viceroyalty of Peru. His main supporter was Bishop Manuel de Mollinedo. Basilio's art blended influences from both Peru and Spain. His paintings are known for their lively designs, rich decorations, and large size.
For a long time, art experts thought Basilio Santa Cruz was a Spanish friar (a type of religious brother). However, a historian named Jorge Cornejo Bouroncle found old contracts for his paintings. These papers showed his full name, Basilio de Santa Cruz Pumacallao, which includes a clear Quechua family name. This discovery proved he was an Indigenous artist.
His Painting Style
Basilio Santa Cruz's painting style was quite different from another famous artist of his time, Diego Quispe Tito. While Diego often used ideas from European pictures, Basilio also got ideas directly from paintings by Spanish artists. This was likely because Bishop Mollinedo brought many artworks back from Madrid. Basilio's workshop created a large series of paintings showing the life of Saint Francis.
One unique part of the Cuzco School was the "arcabucero" angels. These were angels shown holding old-fashioned guns (muzzle-loaded firearms). Basilio Santa Cruz helped create these special images, which were very different from how angels were painted in Europe at the same time.
Where to See His Art
You can find Basilio Santa Cruz's artwork in several places in Cusco.
In the Cathedral of Cusco, there are two huge paintings by him. One shows the "Apotheosis" (meaning a person becoming a god) of Saint Christopher. The other features Saint Isidore. Further inside the cathedral, you can see two more of his big paintings: "Chasuble Imposition to Saint Ildephonsus" and "The Ecstasy of Saint Philip Neri." There's also a painting called "Royal Saint Mary of Almudena" in the Chapel of Saint Joseph. This painting shows a version of the Virgin Mary that is very important in Spain. The cathedral also has his large oil paintings, Charles II and the Queen of Spain Adoring the Virgin of Almudena and Virgin of Bethlehem with Bishop Mollinedo.
His work is also in the Convento de San Francisco del Cusco (Church and Convent of San Francisco, Cuzco). Here, you can see a "Series of the life of Saint Francis". Only the very last painting in this series is signed by Basilio, and it is dated 1667.
The Iglesia de la Merced has Basilio Santa Cruz's "Martyrdom of Saint Laurence". This painting features angels that look similar to those painted by the Spanish artist Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.
A painting called Corpus Christi Procession in Cuzco, from the late 1600s, is also thought to be by him. This painting is now in the Museo Arzobispol del Arte Religioso.
See also
In Spanish: Basilio Santa Cruz para niños
