The Ibero-American Baroque ed. by Beatriz De Alba-Koch

Reviewed by: The Ibero-American Baroque ed. by Beatriz De Alba-Koch Gladys Robalino De Alba-Koch, Beatriz, ed. The Ibero-American Baroque. U of Toronto P, 2021. 354 pp. ISBN: 978-1442648838. This collection of essays sheds light on how the culture of the 17th-century Iberian Baroque traveled across the Atlantic turning into what De Alba-Koch calls a "global culture" (3). Religious orders were the primary actors in the Baroque's expansion, finding it an effective means (through its "technologies" —art, architecture, music, and literature) to evangelize the masses of indigenous people due to its malleability and ability to inspire "awe and reverence" (10). In the Arts section, the authors consider how several art forms traveled across the Atlantic and adapted to new environments. Luís de Moura Sobral speaks about the magnificence of church decorations created under the patronage of the Third Order Franciscans in Ouro Preto, Brazil. He notices the centrality of the Virgin Mary in Hispanic American church art and argues that surrounding her image with ostentatious and even secular references is a unique element that inspired awe and devotion. Evonne Levy's article claims pre-colonial traditions in Peru of textile weaving and wearing —both associated with the local female nobility— influenced [End Page 210] the colonial period's popularization of shrine paintings. In the New World shrine paintings achieved a strong devotional impact. Levy contends that since painted textiles were "thought to have possessed a magical-religious power" (62) in pre-colonial Peru, their use touched indigenous religious sensibilities, facilitating the natives' Christianization. Enrique Fernández studies the popularization and devotion of relics in Catholic countries during the Counter-Reformation, discussing the evolution of relics containers from reliquaries to dressed religious images. The later incorporation of automata in sacred spaces reveals how the Baroque even fostered modernity. The last study in this section focuses on the creation of clay and wood religious sculptures in Brazil inspired by ivory images from Goa. These sculptures gained great popularity and sophistication. Maria Beatriz de Mello e Souza asserts that the "three-dimensional" quality of statues along with the use of glass eyes and polychromed painting enhanced their realism and vividly and effectively transmitted biblical stories. In the Architecture section, Clara Bergellini discusses the changing significance and popularity of "reproductions of the Holy House of Loreto … in Spanish America during the colonial period" (114). The replicas of the Holy House have been popular places of pilgrimage and devotion that not only aimed at promoting the natives' devotion to the Virgin but also to the Church Mary symbolized. Ricardo L. Castro follows with a study of the Camarín de la Virgen (Chamber of the Virgin), a structure built next to the reproduction of the House of Loreto in Tepotzotlán (11). As Castro shows, its use of light and perspective; mix of Indigenous and Spanish craft traditions; and blurring of the limits between interior and exterior spaces through painted ceilings exemplify how Baroque architecture adapted and inspired "awe" and "devotion." Alena Robin analyzes how the Way of the Cross ritual was an effective Baroque technology to evangelize in New Spain. She maintains that its theatrical elements —especially in its processional form— as stages set for each station of the Cross, and repeated prescribed motions, meditations, and prayers incited an emotional and intellectual response. By reliving Christ's Passion, participants experienced His suffering and learned its significance. In the Music section, Piotr Nawrot studies a recently discovered collection of musical scores zealously kept by native communities in present-day Bolivia (183). The archives contain music brought by missionary Jesuits 300 years ago, which contain translations into indigenous languages, adaptations to native instruments, and local cultural influences, and show how European religious music adjusted to local realities. The result, for Nawrot, are spectacular productions, which have survived to our day in those communities. Lucero Enríquez Rubio discusses the Galant musical style's introduction in New Spain. Galant music was Italianized music "associated with modernity, elegance, and good taste" in the 18th century (210). It was brought to Mexico by musicians such as Ignacio Jerusalem to improve the musical landscape of the city (211). Jerusalem's creative...

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