I typically assign this reading for homework and have the students bring their responses, notes, and questions to class, this way they arrive prepared and ready to engage with the material at a deeper and more critical level:
Read
https://smarthistory.org/reframing-art-history/art-viceroyalty-new-spain/
Answer these questions as you read:
- How would you describe the visual culture of conquest?
- What role did art and crosses play in the evangelization of Spanish Americas?
- What role did architecture and conventos play in the evangelization of Spanish Americas?
- How did casta paintings reflect the construction of racial identities?
- How did colonial portraiture reflect wealth and status?
- How were the visual arts emblematic of an expanding globalized world?
