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1
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- Analyzing Historical Images of the Past
- Mr. Stanton
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2
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- This painting reveals more about prejudices in Spain at the time .
- A mother with snow-white skin, a dark-skinned father and a daughter with
skin tone in between the two appear as prosperous and well-dressed.
- But the title of the portrait is curious: "De Espaniol y Albina,
Torna Atras" -- literally, "From a Spaniard and Albino, return
backwards."
- The prevailing theory at the time was that albinos were thought to be
part African.
- So the union of an albino with a Spaniard was actually seen as a step backward,
towards African heritage.
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3
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- Casta Painting, 1777. Ignacio María Barreda. Real Academia Española,
Madrid, Spain.
- Casta or “caste” paintings depict, in more explicit terms than almost
any other colonial objects, the effects of inter-cultural mixing.
Typically casta paintings comprise sixteen scenes that register, through
the presentation of family groups, the progressive dilution of 'pure'
Spanish, Indian, and African blood. Inscriptions set within or near to
each painted panel identify the names assigned each new “caste” created
thus.
- In this painting, just below the first scene in the upper left corner, a
well-dressed Spanish man extends his arms to receive his child from his
indigenous mate;
- Tracing across the top from left to right and then down the caste
hierarchy, we see the generations of castizo, español criollo, and
mulatto children.
- And in the lowest compartment of all, the painter presents “barbarian”
indigenous people, called mecos.
- Spaniards have the highest social standing, usually appearing in the
first panel of each series; across successive scenes, the pairs become
darker and increasingly poor. Those in the lowest rungs are either those
of the most mixed blood or those so 'barbaric' and 'uncivilized' as to
be beyond the realm of mixing.
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4
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- This painting depicts the Fall of Constantinople, in 1453
- Mehmed II (1451-1481) the 21 year old Ottoman Sultan is seen overseeing
the fight. (Right)
- The capital was all that was left from the mighty Christian Roman Empire
it would fall in 1453.
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5
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- This is an image of the greatest of all the ottoman leaders…. Suleyman
the Magnificent.
- He is often depicted with the largest turban.
- Why do you think this is the
case?
- Suleyman undertook to make Istanbul the center of Islamic civilization.
- He began a series of building projects, including bridges, mosques, and
palaces, that rivalled the greatest building projects of the world in
that century.
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- This is the façade of the church of La Compania de Jesus in Cusco, Peru.
- The Church was built on the site of Inca Huayna Capac's palace, known as
Amaru Cancha or “Palace of the Serpents” and was said to be the most
beautiful of all the Inca palaces.
- How does this church façade represent a mix of Spanish and Incan
culture?
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7
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Notes
