Covered woman and clerk

On a neutral background, in this watercolor a covered woman and a clerk are depicted, perhaps in the interior of an office, judging from the lamp on the table. In Lima society at the end of the colonial period and the first years of the republican era, women known as “tapadas” [“the covered ones”] wore a shawl or cloak that covered their head and face, and a broad skirt. This style of dress was adopted by the women of Lima as a means of maintaining their anonymity, which in turn freed them to enjoy certain freedoms.
Pancho Fierro produced a large number of watercolors that were mostly acquired by foreign travelers passing through Lima, but also by citizens interested in having their own record of local life. In this way, the figures depicted in these watercolors came to be seen as national icons.