(upbeat jazz music)
- We're in the offices
of the World Monuments Fund, in New York City,
in the Empire State Building.
And we're talking about a really important project
the WMF oversaw in Peru,
that has to do with these extraordinary,
early Baroque churches.
The geography of Peru is incredibly varied.
There are stark deserts and jungles,
but it also incorporates one of the highest
mountain ranges on earth: The Andes.
- We're going to be talking about
the Church of San Pedro de Andahuaylillas,
located in the Andes.
- Before the Spanish arrived,
this area had been controlled by the Inca Empire.
This was an extremely sophisticated empire
that had conquered a series of empires even before it.
Primarily, what the Spanish were interested in
was increasing their wealth
though the labor that could be gotten
from the indigenous populations,
but also from raw materials that could
be brought back to Spain,
especially, and most famously, gold.
And the Spanish would claim an enormous
amount of land that stretches
from what is now Northern California,
all the way to the southern tip of South America.
- And when the Spanish came,
most of this region, especially in South America,
was connected by a network of roads,
known as the "Inka Road" or the "Qhapaq Ñan."
So these churches were built,
stretching all the way from Cuzco
to the jungle of Peru.
They were known as missionary churches,
designed to convert.
- So, there was a religious aspect to conversion,
but there was also a political aspect,
which is, you could, in that way, control the population.
- And the Jesuits, in this particular case,
were considered as
the more educated of the religious orders.
- But it's important also to think about the Jesuits
as soldiers of the Pope,
that were to go out into the world
to combat heresy, and to convert as many
souls around the world as possible.
When you go into the church of the Jesuits in Rome,
you see very explicit references
to going to the four great continents,
to bring those souls to the church.
- And one of the most important products
of this whole counter-reformation movement
was the Baroque, but when it came to America,
it became infused with some original techniques
and aesthetic preferences.
What we call the Andean Baroque
became a new, independent style.
As you can see, the facade has got renaissance elements,
but then once you go through the portal,
it's an explosion of Baroque.
- So, when we look closely at the facade,
we see this brilliantly-colored entrance,
with a porch above
that would've been used to preach from.
Even from the outside,
we can see this wonderfully-complex
mix of cultures that is informing the architecture.
You had mentioned the Classical,
and you can see that especially in the pediment.
You can see that in the triumphal arch
of the entranceway,
and of course the classicising plasters.
All of this is coming from the Greco-Roman tradition.
- And then, right above you see
an element that is
what we could consider Mudejar architecture, from Spain.
- So, what we're talking about
is the architectural style that was developed
by the Muslims, when they occupied Spain.
Now, what happens is that the Spanish Christians
will reconquer the Spanish peninsula.
Now, this is a visual vocabulary
that refers to conquest:
the conquest and the triumphalism of Christianity.
So, let's go inside.
- And now you see the stark contrast
between the more classical facade
into this explosion of Baroque,
where every square inch of wall
is covered with some kind of decoration.
- It must have been so impressive
when this was first painted.
The ceiling is a kaleidoscope.
We see this emphasis on pattern
that really does remind me
of the Islamic traditions,
and we see that especially
in the very fine coffering.
- The local techniques of construction were used.
For example, instead of wood,
the Artesonado ceiling is actually built
of this technique called "Kur-Kur,"
and Kur-Kur consists of a combination of cane and mud
that was then shaped to look like wood,
and then painted over with decorative motifs.
- So, this wonderful example
of this local building technology,
which actually goes back in Andean history
for thousands of years,
being incorporated into this modern, Christian environment.
And made to look like the celings
that we would expect to see in Europe.
And it's important to remember
that the artisans responsible
for the building itself
would have been local, indigenous peoples.
The entire space feels so sculptural and so colorful.
- And that's probably the reason why
this church has been known in Peru
as the Sistine Chapel of the Americas.
- There is so much that we could look at.
The altar is magnificent,
but let's look at one particular painting
of the last judgment, because that subject
became quite common at this moment
in colonial South America, in colonial Peru.
We're looking at a mural:
fresco, that is known as "secco fresco,"
that is, it's painting that's been
done directly on a dry wall.
- The purpose of all these paintings was propaganda.
The people that lived here, they didn't know how to read,
so this is how the indoctrination happened,
through visual means.
And this painting by Luis de Riaño,
done in the early 17th century,
depicts how people that were good would go to heaven.
- We have this fabulous feast
laid out before us, but the soul
that is especially good has ignored that bounty.
It is willing to do the hard work of salvation,
and he walks along a path that is hard,
that people fall off of,
but his eyes are fixed on those that inhabit heaven,
and we see a representation
of the city of the heavenly Jerusalem just beyond.
- And then, we could see the mural
on the opposite side, then.
- So, here we have a pathway that looks easier.
It's strewn with flowers,
but, of course it leads to doom.
It leads to hell.
We see the mouth of hell.
We see The Devil, who seems to be pulling
at people, even on the other side.
What's interesting is that this is a variant
on a traditional last judgment scene.
But there, you generally see souls
that are being awoken from the dead,
who have already made their choices.
But here, it's much more immediate.
It's as if the indigenous peoples
were being brought into this church,
or being faced with this immediate choice:
"What path are you going to take?"
And this was especially important for the Jesuits,
who were doing their best to stamp out
what they saw as the idols of the indigenous peoples.
Even as these paintings were being made,
there would still have been plenty of references,
not only to the religion of the Incas,
but the religion of the cultures
that had come before the Incas.
In fact, the foundation is built of stone,
including stone that's been re-purposed
from older Inca structures.
But, above that, we actually have
what is primarily an adobe building:
mud mixed with some straw to help bind it.
- In the last four or five years,
World Monuments Fund has been carrying
a conservation campaign in the church of Andahuayillas.
It started with the conservation
of the artesonados ceiling,
but then we realized that was not enough.
We had to address the structure of the whole church,
and then, we started thinking
that if we protect the church,
we have to also secure the whole town.
- We generally think of a work of art in isolation,
but your project exposes the way in which
a painting is a part of a building,
and a building is a part of a community.
- And that's why
part of our conservation and restoration work
included a training program for fifteen young people,
who were given the tools that they needed
to actually become stewards
of their own cultural heritage,
and their own patrimony.
- And this is especially critical,
because development is forcing change
on these communities.
- Even though Andahuaylillas
is a relatively well-preserved town,
you see these new constructions that are built:
concrete block and blue glass and bathroom tile
on the facade, and those are not part
of the tradition and the aesthetic integrity
of the town, but they're also very bad, environmentally.
Adobe is a thermal material.
It actually collects heat during the day,
and so the interiors are cool.
And at night, they release heat.
- And if the local community
is really a part of the conversation
about maintaining its heritage,
really thoughtful and considered decisions
can be made about development, going forward.
- So, having a community that is on your side,
in terms of preservation,
is much better than just setting up laws and regulations.
We're not proposing to freeze this town.
Obviously, this town is going to develop and grow,
but without losing the important aspects
of what is part of their cultural heritage.
(upbeat jazz music)