Study for Lima’s Main Square

Juan Mauricio Rugendas stands out among the European artists who traveled in Latin America after independence. Following the example of Alexander von Humboldt, who popularized the natural wealth of America as a subject for painting, Rugendas journeyed through the continent for the first time in 1821, as a draftsman with the scientific expedition to Brazil of Baron von Langsdorff. His work, made known through engravings, transformed him into one of the principal exponents in the diffusion of the image of America among the European public. Upon his arrival in Peru in 1842, Rugendas portrayed personalities from Lima society and recorded solemn events and civic celebrations, and views of cities, plazas and convents. The exchange of ideas among travelers like Rugendas and artists such as Francisco Fierro and Ignacio Merino undoubtedly enriched the Lima art scene. This small gouache of Lima’s main square is a sketch for a large scale canvas on the same theme. The work shows the careful process that Rugendas followed in order to achieve the impression of spontaneity that predominates in his vivid representation of Lima’s square. In his preference for complex and dynamic compositions, not devoid of a certain exoticism, Rugendas embodies, more than any other traveler, the vocation of the romantic painter. (NM)