Tunic (Uncu)

This uncu, or man’s tunic, features geometric bands adorned with both European-style shields and rampant lions, and traditional tocapu, individually patterned rectangles worn only by the highest native Andean elite. The incorporation of European imagery and materials in traditional Peruvian garments and accessories was a common strategy employed by indigenous Andean nobles to make their status legible to the Spanish. This device allowed them to claim the privileges accorded to them under the imperial system while preserving elements of their native cultural tradition. By the eighteenth century, Indian nobles were commissioning full-length, European-style Grand Manner portraits, in which they sometimes wore an uncu over a shirt of imported Flemish linen and lace, with their crown-bestowed coat of arms included nearby (see illustration).