Resumen de Imágenes y reliquias en la cristianización del Perú (1569 - 1649): "... que las ymagenes son los ydolos de los christianos"
The Counter-Reformation and the conclusions of the Council of Trent promoted the doctrinal use of religious images - painting, sculpture, and engravings. In early colonial Peru, after the arrival of the Jesuits and through the Third Council of Lima, pastoral roles were elaborated for the conversion of the indigenous population and for the extirpation of their "idolatries". An important means in these processes of conversion and extirpation was the use of Christian images, notwithstanding the intrinsic ambiguity between representation and the represented, and despite the potential for confusion with the traditional concept of huaca by the Indians. This article intends to explore these ambiguities in the reception of images and the criteria applied in qualifying "idolatric" behavior. It tries to show how the use and function of holy images and relics could cause confusion in the complex encounter of Christian and indigenous worlds in the colonial Andes.
