Tigua Painting

Tigua painting depicting Spanish colonialists being thwarted in their attack of indigenous people. The canvas is formed by a piece of skin stretched and nailed to the back of a wooden frame. The wooden frame is painted black on all sides. On the front of the wooden frame, there are pink, green, yellow and blue designs on top of the black background. A blue sky with white clouds and a faint yellow sun serves as the background of the image. The black silhouettes of birds fly across the sky. There are pointy mountains, trees, green hills and two small houses against the horizon. A brown path curves around the hills towards the houses. A couple with their backs to the viewer walks toward the houses. Further along the path, there is a man and a woman standing and looking up at a bridge above. The bridge hangs between two rocky cliffs on either side of the painting; there is a river below it. On the right side of the bridge, there are five Spanish men attempting to cross it. They can be identified as Spanish due to their metal hats which have a brim that slopes upward at the front of the head. Also, they carry guns. The Spanish men’s progress is stopped however, as a result of the vultures that are descending on them and the fact that the bridge is broken in the middle. One of their compatriots is falling headfirst from the bridge. In the foreground on the right side of the painting, a man stands with his back to the viewer, looking up at the bridge. There are two oxen next to him. On the opposite side of the painting, a woman stands in the foreground with her back to the viewer. There is a herd of sheep in front of the woman. Further up the cliff, on the left side of the bridge, there is a group of men and women wearing various coloured ponchos; they clap and jeer at the Spanish in peril. Written in white paint in the lower left corner of the painting is the artist’s name. The artist’s community, year of the work and theme of the image are written on the back upper edge of the image in black paint.