Anonymous (Cuzco School Late 17th or Early 18th century)

Andean depictions of the Holy Trinity as three distinct individuals permitted the teaching of the native populations in the Viceroyalty of Peru about the concept of the trinity, a Christian dogma wherein God is a divine triumvirate--as he is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A divine mystery, the Holy Trinity is more often depicted as God the Father, as an old man; God the Son as the young figure of Jesus Christ; and the Holy Spirit as a dove. The depiction of a dove, according to scholar Teresa Gisbert, would have appeared to the native peoples as sanctioning the worship of animals. Although not adhering to strict Church-sanctioned precepts, images such as this one, were used to propagate the Christian faith in the New World.