| dc.description.abstract | Created in 17th century Lima, Peru and composed of 366 folios, the TCU Lima Manuscript is a compendium of documents created at different times and by different hands, bound together as proof of pure lineage and nobility of Don Marcelo de Ayala Marin Benavidez y Arce. While primarily alphabetic, the manuscript also includes extensive imagery. The first 92 folios are filled with calligraphic renditions of animals, both real and fantastical, while another 100 folios include exquisite ink drawings of print-like quality and depicting a variety of subject matter including cityscapes and landscapes. In this thesis I will analyze the relation and conflation of word and image. I will focus on imagery in two sections meant to prove what the Spanish referred to as limpieza de sangre, or purity of blood, a concept that took precedence in the Spanish colonies. While the images are not necessarily related to the text, they work on a more symbolic level, with the conflation of word and image serving as a mechanism to prove Don Marcelos claim to noble title. At the same time, they also represent the ingenuity of draftsmen in the New World. My first chapter will introduce the TCU Lima Manuscript and the context of its creation. I will analyze how limpieza de sangre functioned as a juridical category and the institutional, legal, and archival mechanisms that helped reproduce the purity of blood discourse in Peru, leading to the creation of documents such as the TCU Lima Manuscript. Chapter two and three focus on the imagery in first section and the penultimate section of the manuscript respectively. These two chapters examine the proliferation of European imagery and the adoption, conflation, and reproduction of imagery in the New World, particularly in terms of workshop tradition and creative efforts by New World artist to create their own styles. | en_US |
