Art of Colonial Latin America”(London: Phaidon, 2005) by Gauvin Alexander Bailey, our main text, discusses the influence of Caravaggio on the Latin American colonial art canon. We begin with the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio, an early Baroque reformist, and strict naturalist, who lived from 1571-1610 and had a major influence on the Latin American colonial art movement. In the Spanish American colonies, the primary art centers were located in Guatemala, Peru, and Mexico. Brazilian artistic tradition was guided more by Portugal, of course, although Caravaggio’s impact was still felt. Furthermore, in the Peruvian school of Cuzco, the European legacy was very strong, despite the presence of indigenous artistic influence. Since much of the establishment of the American colonies to the south was largely by missionaries, and because the Roman Catholic Church was very important in these times, religious themes are prevalent throughout this period. Moreover, although Spain valued commercial conquests and trade, religious absolutism was so strong, that it remained almost a pure form in art, as seen throughout the early New World, though not without native and regional influences, either. However, although Caravaggio and others of his ilk painted religious figures, he particularly used realistic “men on the street” models in his art. Furthermore, Caravaggio was renowned for injecting realism in his work, and for starting the movement known as tenebrism. Characteristic of the style that had a far-reaching impact, is his work, The Calling of Saint Matthew. Here he paints in a dim room that is partially also sunlit, creating shadows on his figures, for effect. He didn’t do colorful figures, and in this way, he rendered them more life-like. In this particular painting, this is the case, and also the element of recession is present, as characterized by Wolfflin. The lights and shadows, Jesus’ arm, and the figure of Levi all demonstrate movement. The tenebrism is felt here, as well, as his faces and hands are highlighted. Certainly, future Mexican colonial paintings displayed this stylistic trait. American Hispanic and native artists painted in a Baroque style by the middle of the seventeenth century. Their works were replete with elongation and mass, unusual spatial relations, and subdued colorism. The artists stressed religious occurrences as being realistic. Again, this was largely due to the style of Caravaggio, who’d also popularized his approach with Spanish artists in Seville, and hence, the New World colonies. This was so because most of the Latin American pioneers embarked from Seville and were so exposed to its art. In Mexico, Spanish immigrant Sebastián López de Arteaga produced Doubting Thomas in 1643. This depiction is certainly done in the Baroque style of realism. As the disciple Thomas places his finger in Jesus’ wound, the viewer can readily believe in the suffering and validity of Christ. Luminescence highlights the Lord’s wound. The protagonists have been rendered also, on a true-to-life scale. They are surrounded by some old men, who look like everyday people, indeed. Yet another example of the Caravaggesque influence took place in Peru, where an anonymous artist worked, probably a painter at the