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Bolivia Catholic Church Jesuit Missions Chiquitos Mestizo Baroque Architecture
Striking bilingual Spanish-English photographic and historical study of the Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos in eastern Bolivia, one of the most important surviving legacies of the Jesuit reductions in South America. Richly illustrated with color photography of mission churches, carved altars, crucifixes, indigenous religious art, colonial architecture, painted interiors, sculpture, and sacred spaces associated with the Chiquitanía region and the Jesuit evangelization campaigns of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The book explores the founding and development of the Jesuit reductions established among the Chiquitos indigenous peoples after the arrival of the Society of Jesus in the Spanish colonial frontier regions east of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Historical references include San Ignacio de Loyola (Ignatius of Loyola), founder of the Jesuit Order in 1543, and missionaries José Arce, Antonio Rivas, Francisco Javier, San Rafael, San José, San Juan, Concepción, San Miguel, San Ignacio, Santiago, Santa Ana, and Santo Corazón. The text discusses the role of the missions in protecting indigenous communities from Portuguese slave raiders and bandeirantes while creating highly organized religious, artistic, agricultural, and musical communities deep in the tropical forests of Bolivia.
The Chiquitos Jesuit Missions were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990, recognized for their extraordinary fusion of European Baroque religious culture and indigenous craftsmanship. The book highlights monumental carved wooden columns, gilded altars, mission churches, sacred imagery, and the unique cultural synthesis that developed in the Chiquitanía region over nearly 150 years of Jesuit activity before the suppression and expulsion of the Jesuits in the late 18th century.
An excellent reference and visual resource for collectors interested in Jesuit history, colonial Latin America, Bolivia, Christian missions, indigenous history, UNESCO World Heritage sites, Spanish colonial art, ecclesiastical architecture, Baroque churches, and South American photography books. Particularly relevant to travelers and scholars interested in Santa Cruz Department, Chiquitos Province, and the broader history of the Jesuit reductions across Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil.
Texts by Jaime Cisneros and Álvaro Romero V., with English translation by Fernando Bueno. Photography and layout by Jaime Cisneros.
Publisher: Jaime Cisneros / Hugo Richter, La Paz, Bolivia
Edition: Second edition, 1998
Condition: Very good; clean interior with light shelf wear and minor scuffing to glossy boards
Language: Spanish and English
Format: Large hardcover illustrated volume
Legal Deposit: 4-1--990-97
Printed in Bolivia
Approximate Length: Unpaginated / extensively illustrated throughout
ISBN: Not listed in volume
