Extended Exhibition – Doctrine and Devotion: Art of the Religious Orders in the Spanish Andes

On view through June 25, 2017 at the Art Institute of Chicago, Doctrine and Devotion introduces the major religious missionary orders active in South America during the colonial period. The exhibition explores the visual themes and iconographies developed and promoted by the orders in their efforts to spread Christianity in Spanish South America. Highlighting the political implications of these images, Doctrine and Devotion coalesces around thirteen vibrant paintings from the Thoma art collection, including Bernardo Bitti’s Virgin and Child, and Genealogical Tree of the Mercedarian Order (pictured left) from 18th-century Bolivia. These paintings were produced in centers like Lima, Cuzco, Quito and Potosí from the 17th through the early 19th century.

This exhibition follows the Art Institute’s first exhibition of Latin American art of the viceregal period, A Voyage to South America: Andean Art in the Spanish Empire, which also featured loans from the Thoma art collection.

More information about Doctrine and Devotion is available at http://www.artic.edu/exhibition/doctrine-and-devotion-art-religious-orders-spanish-andes.

Update: The exhibition has been extended through January 3, 2018!