Painted by José Sabogal following his return from Mexico, Amancaes depicts a group of people gathered on the pampa of the same name, enjoying a festivity unique to Lima. The scene is played out in front of the small chapel of Saint John the Baptist, whose feast day, June 24, marks the central day of the celebrations.
Sabogal depicts couples dancing and musicians playing, while the market women serve food. One woman is offering flowers to the famous image of Our Lady of Sorrows, venerated by locals, which was painted on a rock in order to seal, according to legend, the “volcano of water” that threatened to engulf the city of Lima.
More than by their features, the painter uses their actions and clothing to build his characters, while another key detail underpinning the notion of diversity is skin tone. But this variety of colors is expressed in the context of an indisputably Creole city: the scene is dominated by the distant cityscape of Lima, with its towers taking us back to the colonial past.
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