Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Andean Textiles

Thematic Essays

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American Art

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Roll over thumbnail(s) for preview(s) of related Museum work(s) of art, organized in chronological order.

Timelines (6)

Thematic Essays (12)

• Arts of the Mission Schools in Mexico
• Arts of the Spanish Americas, 1550-1850
• Birds of the Andes
• Colonial Kero Cups
• Dualism in Andean Art
• Europe and the Age of Exploration
• Indian Textiles: Trade and Production
• The Manila Galleon Trade (1565-1815)
• Nineteenth-Century European Textile Production
• Polychrome Sculpture in Spanish America
• Talavera de Puebla
• Textile Production in Europe, 1600-1800

Maps (2)

• Europe Map, 1600–1800 A.D.
• World Map, 1600–1800 A.D.

Index Terms (3)

Geography/Place

• Americas, Andes
• Europe, Iberian Peninsula

Material and Technique

• Textile, Wool

Andean weaving was among the arts practiced in colonial Latin America that retained the closest connection to Precolumbian traditions. The flocks of alpacas and other camelids that had yielded tapestry cloth of a beauty astonishing to the Spanish newcomers continued to anchor life among the Aymara and Quechua peoples. The gradual incorporation of European motifs into their garments did not alter the centrality of textiles to the value system of these indigenous communities.

Johanna Hecht
Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation for this page

Hecht, Johanna. "Andean Textiles". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/adtx/hd_adtx.htm (October 2003)

Suggested Further Readings

Find these publications in a library

Phipps, Elena, et al. The Colonial Andes: Tapestries and Silverwork, 1530–1830. Exhibition catalogue. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004.
Stone-Miller, Rebecca. To Weave for the Sun: Andean Textiles in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Exhibition catalogue. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1992.

Related exhibitions and online features
Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)

Arts of the Spanish Americas, 1550–1850: Works from the Museum's Collection

Related information by department

Arts of the Americas: Features and Exhibitions; Collection Database

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