The Holy Trinity
Artist
Unknown Artist
Date1786
Object number2009.2470.12
Mediumoil on brass
Dimensions16 3/4 x 12 7/8 in. (42.5 x 32.7 x 0 cm)
frame: 24 3/8 x 20 5/8 x 1 1/2 in. (61.9 x 52.4 x 3.8 cm)
frame: 24 3/8 x 20 5/8 x 1 1/2 in. (61.9 x 52.4 x 3.8 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.
Gift of Rosario Ferré Ramírez de Arellano
Collections
DescriptionThe depiction of the Holy Trinity as three identical individual figures is mainly associated with the art of the Viceroyalty of Peru. This image is notably different from the iconography produced in Europe at the time, where the depiction of God the Father as an elder figure, the Son as Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit as a dove was more common. The three identical figures were used as a tool of evangelization, as it was thought that indigenous people would better understand the concept of the Trinity as a single God if the figures representing it were identical. According to these colonial concepts, the representation of the different figures of the Trinity could have been misinterpreted, thereby evoking polytheistic beliefs. Similarly, the representation of the Holy Spirit as a dove could have been associated with animal worship.
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