Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
mines. A vital nerve centre of Spanish imperial power, it also served as a
prison
, treasury,
and stronghold in times of strife.
The entrance and courtyard
The main Calle Ayacucho entrance is an ornate Baroque portal with double doors 4m high:
the coat of arms above them, bear the lion and castle of the Spanish kingdoms of Castille
and Léon, and the door knockers are in the form of the double-headed eagle of the Habs-
burg dynasty. Overlooking the first interior courtyard is a large plaster mask of a smiling face
crowned by a garland of leaves and grapes. Known as
El Mascarón
, this caricature has be-
come one of Potosí's best-known symbols, though neither its origin nor meaning is clear. The
most likely story is that it was made by Eugenio Mulón, a Frenchman working in the mint
in the mid-nineteenth century - it's variously thought to represent Bacchus, the Roman god
of plenty; Diego Huallpa, the llama herder who discovered Cerro Rico's silver; a parody of
either President Belzu or of the mint's director; or a veiled caricature of avarice. It has also
been suggested that the mysterious mask was created during the Independence War to cover
a royal coat of arms in mockery of Spanish rule.
Colonial religious art
The guided tour typically begins in a room full of
colonial paintings
, including a series de-
picting eighteenth-century battles between Spain and the Turks. There are also portraits of
the Spanish emperor, Carlos III, and several leading mine owners. The next room is ded-
icated to paintings of the Virgin Mary, many of them by unnamed indigenous artists in the
mestizo-Baroque style. Of these, the most outstanding is the
Virgen del Cerro
, one of the
most important paintings ever produced in Bolivia. Painted in the eighteenth century by an
anonymous (presumably indigenous) artist, it depicts the Virgin Mary in the form of Cerro
Rico, fusing the Catholic Mother of God with Pachamama, the Andean earth goddess. From
the heavens above the Virgin-mountain, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost reach down to place
a crown on her he-ad. On the ground below is an earthly spiritual hierarchy of pope, arch-
bishop and priest (bottom left), and the temporal hierarchy of emperor, town councillor and
knight of Santiago (bottom right). In the sky, either side of the Virgin, are the sun and the
moon, central figures in Inca religion. The mountain slopes too are richly detailed. Diego Hu-
allpa sits by the fire that first revealed the existence of silver; miners are at work; a lordly
Spaniard arrives, preceded by a priest on horseback; and at the foot of the mountain stands
the Inca Huayna Capac, his presence a subtle reminder, perhaps, of the people to whom these
lands once belonged.
The paintings of Melchor Pérez de Holguín
The second room on the tour is filled with paintings by
Melchor Pérez de Holguín
, who was
perhaps the finest exponent of the Andean Baroque style. Known as
La Brocha de Oro
- the
GoldenBrush-HolguínwastheoutstandingpainterofthePotosíSchool.Hisreligiouspaint-
ings found their way into all the major churches and convents of the city as well as further
