Early 18th-century Cuzco school The legend of Saint Eloi or - Lot 328

Lot n° 328
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Early 18th-century Cuzco school The legend of Saint Eloi or - Lot 328
Early 18th-century Cuzco school The legend of Saint Eloi or Christ the blacksmith Oil on canvas with gold highlights and brocatéado decoration (wear and restoration) 133 x 105 cm The legend of Saint Eloi recounts the miracle of the shod horse. Here we have a representation of the variant, in which Christ performs the miracle. Before the Conquest, the Indians produced magnificent gold and silver objects, but had no knowledge of iron metallurgy. The first iron tools introduced to Peru were imported from Europe, and were therefore expensive objects. Their sheer number in Saint Eloi's workshop demonstrates the blacksmith's wealth, and makes him and Christ, in the eyes of the indigenous population, important social figures. This episode is taken from Jacques de Voragine's Légende Dorée, a work that was very popular in the Middle Ages, much less so in the Renaissance, but which, curiously enough, inspired many South American paintings.
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