Art in colonial America as improvement of strength and law

The undoubted violence of the Conquest was followed by the determination to establish a new order in the occupied lands. For these purposes, the Crown used law, which in the case of the Indies had a very original character, because it applied different statutes to different human groups. However, law was not a sufficient instrument to create a meeting place where indigenous people could recognise themselves in a meaningful way. This paper shows how art played that role more effectively. In fact, the so-called colonial art was not limited to being a mere copy of European models, but presented its own characteristics, which largely respond to the peculiar way of being of the conquered peoples.