{"product_id":"finding-caspicara-susan-verdi-webster-9781477329726","title":"Finding Caspicara: Double Identities, Hidden Figures, and the Commerce of Sculpture in Colonial Quito","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn examination of sculpture and authorship in eighteenth-century Quito that documents Caspicara as a participant in the innovative artistic production of the city's workshops and its widespread commerce of polychrome sculptures.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Who is Caspicara? Nothing is known of Caspicara's life, and not a single sculpture has been documented as his work. Yet traditional histories laud him as a prolific Indigenous sculptor in eighteenth-century Quito who created exquisite polychrome figures and became a national artistic icon. Drawing on extensive archival, historical, and object research, Susan Verdi Webster peels away layers of historiographical fabrication to reveal what we do and do not know about Caspicara and his work. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Rather than being a solitary master, Caspicara collaborated with other, largely Indigenous artists in Quito's protoindustrial workshops, manufacturing sculptures now credited to him alone. The high quality of Quito sculptures produced by anonymous artists turned the city into a hub of wide-ranging commerce in religious icons. The art world and post-independence Ecuadorians have lionized the one named sculptor, Caspicara, according to the Western model of the artist-genius, amplifying the market for works bearing his name and creating a national hero on par with European masters. Lost in this process were the artists themselves. Webster returns to their world, detailing their methods and labor and, for the first time, documenting a sculpture made by Caspicara. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Susan Verdi Webster\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1477329722\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781477329726\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Texas Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/01\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover","brand":"Susan Verdi Webster","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":45897783967999,"sku":"9781477329726","price":55.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_31c4d8ad-f827-4a53-b603-a490fd282a94.jpg?v=1721374737","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/finding-caspicara-susan-verdi-webster-9781477329726","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}