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Accession #	41.1275.187
Artist	Unknown
Title	Archangel Raphael
Date	late 17th or early 18th century
Medium	Oil on burlap
Dimensions	32 1/4 x 24 1/8in. (81.9 x 61.3cm) frame: 35 1/4 x 27 x 2 1/2 in. (89.5 x 68.6 x 6.4 cm)
Credit Line	Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott Fund
Location	Visible Storage: Case 24, Screen B (Paintings)

Curatorial Remarks: Full-length paintings of archangels based on European prints and medieval Apocryphal sources are recorded in the inventories of Spanish American collectors of various backgrounds. According to the 1797 inventory of the estate of a wealthy Aymara woman, María Angela Cachicatari, the main room of her primary residence in Juli included twenty-five paintings, six of which were of “angels.” Images of archangels were displayed high on the walls of elite interiors (see illustration), suggesting that their purpose was more decorative than devotional. This painting on burlap was most likely produced on speculation for a growing art market rather than commissioned.


Las pinturas de cuerpo entero de arcángeles basadas en copias europeas y en fuentes medievales apócrifas aparecen registradas en inventarios de coleccionistas de Hispanoamérica. Según el inventario de 1797 del patrimonio de María Ángela Cachicatari, una acaudalada mujer aimara, en el cuarto principal de su residencia primaria en Juli había veinticinco pinturas, seis de las cuales eran “de ángeles.” Las imágenes de arcángeles se colocaban a lo alto de las paredes en los interiores de la élite (ver ilustración), sugiriendo que su objetivo era más decorativo que piadoso. Más que por encargo o comisión, esta pintura sobre arpillera probablemente fue producida para la venta en el creciente mercado de arte local.