Museo de Arte Religioso del Cusco, Religious art museum in central Cusco, Peru.
The Museo de Arte Religioso del Cusco occupies the Archbishop's Palace and displays over 200 paintings along with religious furniture and ornate baroque altarpieces from the colonial period. The galleries are arranged around a Renaissance courtyard featuring a central fountain and detailed cedar woodwork on the ceilings.
The building stands on the foundations of Inca Roca's former residence and incorporates the renowned twelve-angled stone in its outer wall. The museum was established in 1969 and has since housed the religious art collection from the colonial era.
The museum's collection comes largely from donations: José Orihuela Yabar gave his colonial religious art to the people of Cusco, and the Archdiocese contributed canvases and carvings. Among the works are the twelve Corpus Christi paintings from the Santa Ana parish and Diego Quispe Tito's nine-painting Zodiac series, both added in 1970.
The museum occupies the Archbishop's Palace, whose outer foundations hold the Inca twelve-angled stone, so look for it at street level before entering. The eight thematic rooms run from the Salón Dorado to the Sala del Zodiaco, and the building reopened on 29 February 2020 after renovation. It stands in the historic centre of Cusco, within walking distance of the Plaza de Armas.
Diego Quispe Tito's Zodiac series stands out as a collection of nine paintings that weave together Catholic imagery with astronomical symbols and constellations. These works reveal how local artists creatively merged religious devotion with scientific knowledge during colonial times.
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