From the book to the image: an approach to the Immaculate Conception iconography through the study of the Library at the san Francisco convent in Santiago

Abstract

The San Francisco Convent library in Santiago has an important and invaluable collection of books. The ifty-four paintings that represent the Saint’s life include quotations from texts found in this library. The purpose of this article is to rebuild the intellectual context of the Franciscans inspired by the ideas of Joaquin de Fiore and Duns Scoto in order to understand the theological project through the paintings and concepts included in their iconographic program. The paintings are a symbolic system that represents America’s attempts to legitimize the political and social aspirations of the Andean colonial world in the late seventeenth century.