Source: WTL-digitized photographs taken on site at the Monasterio de Santa Catalina in Arequipa, Perú.
Comments: This series of images focuses on the Catholic cloistered convent of Santa Catalina, founded in the sixteenth century (1580) by Spanish conquistadors and missionaries.
Humanities topics: Spanish-American (Peruvian) Renaissance (16th century) religious architecture and art. The architectural style is predominantly Spanish Renaissance Mudéjar style, meaning that, like most artistic modes of Spain, it is a product of fusing (syncretism) elements of Spanish Muslim and Christian influences. In other words, Mudéjar architectural style, which was the product of talented Muslim designers and builders who worked for Christian patrons. The result is the production of Spanish Christian buildings by means of reinterpretating Islamic elements. In the view inside this cloistered convent, you will see, however, the standard Renaissance arch.