Guatemala Research Paper

Colonial art includes the paintings, sculptures, and artifacts, both

Catholic and secular, produced in Guatemala during the Colonial period

(1524-1821).12 To understand how Guatemalan Colonial art came to exist, it is first necessary to introduce some aspects of the history of the country.

Guatemala is a country very rich in history and culture.13 Before the discovery of America and the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores,

Guatemala was the epicenter of the Mayan civilization that flourished

2,000 years ago.14 All over Guatemala there are vestiges of the Mayan civilization:' 5 in the highlands stand the ruins of ceremonial and fortress cities,' 6 and, in the northern region of Pet6n, the city of Tikal stands out as one of the most important

Guatemala was part of the Spanish Empire for about three hundred years (1524-1821).19 During this Colonial period, Spanish immigrants, who imposed a new culture, religion, and language on the local inhabitants, changed Guatemala's

12. See generally OAKAH L. JONES, GUATEMALA IN THE SPANISH COLONIAL PERIOD (1994).

13. See generally W. GEORGE LOVELL, A BEAUTY THAT HURTS - LIFE AND DEATH IN

GUATEMALA (2000).

14. The Maya civilization flourished in Mesoamerica, a region that includes the current territories of Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and western Honduras. It is divided in three periods: Pre-Classic (2,000 B.C.), Classic (250-900 A.D.), and Post-Classic (900-1500 A.D.). Of these periods, the Classic is the most well-known and the one where the Maya reached the apotheosis. It witnessed the peak of large-scale construction and urbanism, the recording of monumental inscriptions, and a period of significant intellectual and artistic development. See MICHAEL D. COE, THE MAYA (6th ed.1999). 15. See generally J. ERIC S. THOMPSON, THE RISE AND FALL OF MAYA CIVILIZATION (1954)

(providing a detailed account of the Maya civilization, its periods and most important cities);