Viceregal School. Chuquisaca. Upper Peru. (Present Bolivia) Circa 1660. 'Coronation of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Trinity' Oil on canvas. 105 x 83 cm.   The “Coronation of the Virgin” is a painting from the 17th century, originally from Upper Peru, a region that at that time was an important artistic and religious nucleus of the Viceroyalty of Peru. It belongs to the pictorial tradition promoted by the Society of Jesus in the region and reflects the survival of mannerism, that was introduced by the Jesuit painter Bernardo Bitti, who had great influence in Bolivia, particularly in Chuquisaca (present-day Sucre) and Potosí. This mannerist style can also be seen when we compare the painting we have here with important pictures that Bitti -who arrived in America in 1575- painted in Chuquisaca for the Church of the Society of Jesus, highlights among these being “Saint John the Evangelist”, “The Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary”, “La Imposición de la Casulla a San Ildefonso” (Putting the chasuble on Saint Ildephonsus of Toledo,) and “The Madonna with the Christ Child and the Infant Saint John”, also known as “La Virgen de las Frutas”, all of them kept in Sucre Cathedral. These paintings, recently restored, reaffirm Bitti's presence in the city and the impact of his style on local artistic production. The “Coronation of the Virgin” shares the arrangement of the figures, the softness of the faces, the play of light and the idealization of the forms with those other paintings. Likewise, the connection with the painting “Mary Mother of God, Queen of Heaven”, located in the Church of Santo Domingo de Chuquisaca, reinforces the attribution of the painting to the pictorial context of Sucre at that time. Both paintings exhibit a mannerist language with baroque influences, although the “Coronation of the Virgin” presents a more sober treatment in the ornamentation, which could indicate its being produced in a workshop linked to the Jesuit tradition, but with a more restrained interpretation. The role of the Society of Jesus in Chuquisaca, in fact, was key in the diffusion of Mannerist painting and its evolution towards the Andean Baroque. The Church and College of San Juan Bautista, one of the main Jesuit educational centers in the city, played a fundamental role in the training of artists and in the production of religious works. The strong connection between the Jesuit colleges and the painting workshops allowed Bitti's mannerist aesthetic to continue in the region during the 18th century, adapting to local sensibilities. The iconographic motif represented in this work was widely disseminated from the 15th century onwards. This painting shows the Trinity represented individually by the Father on the right, the Son on the left and the Holy Spirit in the center, flying over the scene, giving Mary the crown that identifies her as Queen and Lady of all creation. All the figures rest on clouds while extending their hands towards the Virgin Mary's head, who is dressed in a red tunic and blue mantle, with golden ornaments, supported by a sea of clouds. The clothing of all the characters has contrasting colors - clear and lively, intense and deep shades, from the crimson of  Mary's dress to the embroidered tunic of God the Father and the embroidered stars of the Son's tunic. They all create a chromatic play of oppositions and contrasts with the background full of rays of light that emanate from the scene and focus it, closing the compositional whole. This play of contrasts, together with the folds and falling of the fabrics, generate a sensation of warmth and movement. The narrative of the coronation corresponds to the cycle of the Virgin's life, and occurs just after her Assumption into heaven in body and soul. This story originates in apocryphal texts attributed to Meliton (2nd century A.D.), bishop of the ancient city of Sardis (Asia Minor) and was spread by Gregory of Tours (537-594) and by figures such as James of Voragine (ca. 1230 - ca. 1298) in his “Golden Legend” and the Jesuit Pedro de Rybadeneira (1527-1611), author of the work “Flos Sanctorum”.   Reference bibliography: - Coello de la Rosa, Alexandre, y Abejez, Luis J. (2023). “Bernardo Bitti y Diego Martínez: dos protagonistas de la pastoral de la imagen en el Virreinato del Perú”. Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, vol. 92, n.º 183, pp. 5-30. - Gentile Lafaille, Margarita E. (2009). “Pachamama y la coronación de la Virgen-Cerro. Iconología, siglos XVIII-XIX”. Anales de Historia del Arte, vol. 19, pp. 1141-1152.  - Stastny, Francisco. (1995). “Pintura cuzqueña”. Banco de Crédito del Perú. - Tejada, Andrea. (2020). “Bernardo Bitti: del Cusco”. Museo Garcilaso.