Attributed to the Master of Calamarca (Bolivia, 18th century) “Archangel Arquebusier” Oil on canvas. 138 x 105 cm. The Master of Calamarca is the name given to a painter who worked in Bolivia between the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Specifically, the professor of Latin American art history suggests dating his works between 1660 and 1680 and even identifying him as José López de los Ríos, one of the first documented painters in the Collao region. However, the historian Teresa Gisbert de Mesa considers the Master of Calamarca to have been active between 1700 and 1750. She states this in the extensive catalogue "Revelaciones. Las artes en América Latina, 1492–1820", published in 2006 on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso in Mexico City, and LACMA. The book, compiled by Joseph J. Rishel with the collaboration of Suzanne Stratton-Pruitt, includes two works by the Master of Calamarca: "The Angel Baraquiel" and "The Angel with Sheaves of Wheat", both kept in the Church of Calamarca in Bolivia and belonging to a larger series, “the largest known set of angels. It consists of two series: the first is made up of arquebus-bearing angels, each with his name written below; the second consists of angels wearing feminine garments and Roman soldiers’ boots, as befits their asexual nature,” explains Gisbert. The architect, researcher, and historian also notes that this series, like the oil painting we present, “stylistically derives from the painter Leonardo Flores of La Paz, who lived in the city of La Paz (active in 1684) and worked in the riverside towns around Lake Titicaca.” Bibliographic reference: - Rishel, J. J. y Stratton-Pruitt, S. (Comps.) (2007). "Revelaciones. Las artes en América Latina, 1492 - 1820". Fondo de Cultura Económica. (pp. 429-430).