Madrid's Prado Museum has completed the return of three 17th-century oil paintings belonging to the Cuzco School of art. The paintings, which blend European Baroque techniques with Indigenous Andean symbolism, were identified as having been illegally trafficked out of Peru in the 1960s. The restitution is part of a new bilateral agreement between Spain and Peru to cooperate on the protection of colonial-era heritage.
The works are notable for their use of brocateado (heavy gold leaf application) and the depiction of local flora and fauna within religious scenes. Upon their arrival in Lima, the paintings will undergo minor conservation before being exhibited at the Cathedral of Cusco, their original home, where they are viewed as essential symbols of Peruvian religious and cultural identity.