Term used to refer to the Peruvian painters of various ethnic origins active in CUZCO from the 16th to the 19th century. When Viceroy Toledo reached Cuzco in 1570, he commissioned a series of paintings (destr.) to be sent to Spain, which included depictions of the conquest and capture of Atahuallpa (d 1533) and portraits of the Inca rulers. These works were painted by Indians who had been taught by such Spanish masters as Loyola. From the beginning of Spanish colonization until the end of the 16th century, two currents existed in painting in Cuzco: that of the Spanish masters, influenced by Netherlandish and Late Gothic art; and the indigenous tradition. Both influences persisted simultaneously until Roman Mannerism reached Peru through the work of three Italian painters based in Lima: MATEO PÉREZ DE ALESIO, BERNARDO BITTI and ANGELINO MEDORO. Bitti, a Jesuit, worked in Cuzco with, among others, two disciples of Medoro: the Indian Loayza and the Lima painter Luis de Riaño (b 1596). The influence of Bitti and the popularity of Flemish engravings as inspiration for compositions overwhelmed indigenous art, which was evident only in the drawings in the Primer nueva crónica y buen gabierno (c. 1580–1613) by Guaman Poma de Ayala. Medieval styles were also perpetuated through the work of such monks as Diego de Ocaña, who popularized the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

• Cuzco school
  • Argentina, §III, 1: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture: Colonial period, 1536–1816
  • Bolivia, §III, 1: Painting and graphic arts, 1534–1825
  • Peru, §II: Indigenous culture
  • Peru, §IV, 1: Painting, graphic arts and sculpture, 1532–1822
  • Zapata , Marcos