Art and Vision in the Inca Empire

In 1500 CE the Inca empire covered most of South America''s Andean region. The empire''s leaders first met Europeans on November 15 1532 when a large Inca army confronted Francisco Pizarro''s band of adventurers in the highland Andean valley of Cajamarca Peru. At few other times in its history would the Inca royal leadership so aggressively showcase its moral authority and political power. Glittering and truculent what Europeans witnessed at Inca Cajamarca compels revised understandings of pre-contact Inca visual art spatial practice and bodily expression. This book takes a fresh look at the encounter at Cajamarca using the episode to offer a new art-historical interpretation of pre-contact Inca culture and power. Adam Herring''s study offers close readings of Inca and Andean art in a variety of media: architecture and landscape geoglyphs sculpture textiles ceramics featherwork and metalwork. The volume is richly illustrated with over sixty color images.