Casta Paintings in Colonial Latin America
“ Many pass as Spaniards who in their hearts know that they are mulattos.” Pedro Alonso O’Crouley, Spanish merchant
Casta Paintings a.org/wikipedia/comm ons/e/e8/Casta_paintin g_all.jpg Go to the above address and click on the individual images to enlarge
Racial Mixtures Sample Parentage Offspring Spaniard & negro Mulato Mulato & indian chino grifo * Negro & indian lobo or sambo Spaniard & indian mestizo Spaniard & mestizo castizo or Albino Spaniard & castizo Spaniard Spaniard & mulato morisco Spaniard & moriscosaltas atras ** Spaniard & saltras Atras tente en el aire *** Indian & lobo chino cambujo Indian & mestizo coyote Indian & coyote Indian Indian & chino albarazado Indian & mulato lobo Spaniard & morisco albino *Chino= various meanings. Chino grifo=frizzly headed chin Chino cambujo=a very swarthy one **Saltas atras=literally a ‘jump backward’ away from Spanish stock ***tente en el aire=literally ‘very much in the air’ of very dubious standing
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Activity #1 Pick one image to work with and answer the following questions on your worksheet Identify the document -Is there title? -Who are the people? -Can we date the images? -What objects do you see in the picture? -What are the people doing in the images? -What does their clothing tell us
Activity #1 continued What is the main idea behind casta paintings? Who was the intended audience? What was the purpose of these paintings? Can you detect bias? Is there a trend seen in the images? What questions can you think of, if you could ask the artist or producer?
Activity #2 General Questions Read the Role-Play handout on Life in the Spanish Colonies and discuss with your neighbors Discuss how the Latin American social system compares (sims & diffs) with Medieval European society Compare with the Hindu caste system Can it be compare to the Jim Crow system in the Southern States?