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San Antonio Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by Betty and Bob Kelso.

Mama Ocllo, First Coya

San Antonio Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by Betty and Bob Kelso.
San Antonio Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by Betty and Bob Kelso.
Contact San Antonio Museum of Art, Registrar Department for rights and reproduction of this image. Photography by Peggy Tenison.

Mama Ocllo, First Coya

Artist:
Place made:Peru, South America
Culture: Peruvian
Date: early 19th century
Dimensions:
painting: 19 1/4 × 15 1/2 in. (48.9 × 39.4 cm)
frame: 22 3/4 × 19 × 3/4 in. (57.8 × 48.3 × 1.9 cm)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Betty and Bob Kelso
Object number: 2003.10.2
Inscribed: "Occllo Huaca [Primera] Coya"
Label Text
This portrait series depicts the dynastic rulers of the Inca empire arranged in rows of lineal succession. These were sometimes accompanied by portraits of the Spanish conquistadors and viceroys – a display that falsely suggested the peaceful and logical succession to Spanish rule and played to European expectations of conquest. Inca ruler portraits also played upon the nostalgia of pre-Hispanic Andean culture, though the adornments worn by the rulers were based on Spanish speculation of what Inca regalia looked like. The tradition of painting Inca ruler portraits began in the late sixteenth century and continued well into the nineteenth century, when they were often painted as copies of previous Inca ruler portrait series. (LA, 2021)
On view


The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.