Shifting Ground: Elite Sponsorship of the Cult of Christ of the Earthquakes in Eighteenth-Century Cusco

Abstract

The cult of Christ of the Earthquakes, a statue enshrined in the cathedral of Cusco, Peru, began after a massive earthquake in 1650 and remains vibrant today. Recent scholarship has suggested that the cult developed among indigenous Andeans and that the Christ has always embodied aspects of traditional, non-Christian Andean deities. Based on substantial archival documentation and visual sources, this article counters that interpretation. It shows that during the colonial period, and especially in the eighteenth century, the cult of Christ of the Earthquakes had an important elite Spanish and creole base, and that the Christ was often cast as the enemy of non-Christian Andean religion. The elite basis of the cult was reinforced by the 'interiorization' of the statue within the cathedral, a move that was accomplished by the statue's confraternity and expressed in multiple statue paintings of the image. This study contributes to our understanding of the origins of the cult of Christ of the Earthquakes while it provides insight into the sources of Hispanic power in late colonial Cusco.