10 PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS
Imagen: Daniello Bartoli, Historia della Compagnia di Giesu (detalle de la portada con las representaciones de América y Asia, delineada por Jan Miel y grabada por Cornelis Bloemaert), Roma: De Lazzeri, 1659.
This second posting shares some of the preliminary research questions we are asking ourselves as part of this research project. Many of these will be answered through other blog entries, as well as through articles, seminars, and lectures by members of the project and other scholars of the academic community with whom we collaborate. They are also an invitation to consider in what ways the study of this topic impacts on various fields of knowledge and why it matters.
ONE
What impact did the objects of artistic value that were transported from Europe to America, or from Italy to Spain, have on the local art scenes where they arrived? How were they exhibited, and did they influence local artists?
TWO
What was the impact of the scientific objects that sometimes traveled in Jesuit crates (including clocks, for example) and the hundreds of books?
THREE
Given the volume of objects that Jesuit procurators moved, some in large quantities (especially devotional ones), how were they distributed? To whom were the devotional objects destined? And everything else?
FOUR
Where are these objects that travelled such long distances to be found today? How much has been lost?
FIVE
Did the provincial procurators charge a commission for carrying out the requests and petitions of third parties in their provinces of origin?
SIX
Did the procurators have local agents to whom they turned to make their purchases in the usual stops of their itinerary, places such as Barcelona, Genoa, Rome, and Naples?
SEVEN
Did the procurators typically buy the same things, or did the nature and types of objects purchased change over time? Did they buy on the open market and in bulk? How often did they commission specific objects or works of art in the cities to which they traveled?
EIGHT
Given that for the case of the Spanish American viceroyalties, many of the Jesuits who undertook these journeys were Creoles (Spaniards born in America) and that, in general, they had not traveled long distances before (which may also apply to those travelling from Iberian Spain as well), what did the journey entail as an experience for them? Can the journey of the Jesuit procurators in the later period and with its various stops be likened to the Grand Tour?
NINE
How does the activity of the procurators from the provinces in Spain compare with those who went to Rome from the American continent? Did those from Spain also buy objects in Rome? What were their main tasks?
TEN
How can we understand the concern and controversy that arose around the Jesuit procurators, and the growing perception that they were acting as merchants and were exceedingly involved in worldly matters? How did these procurators negotiate between their vow of obedience (instructions from their superiors asking them to limit favors for the local lay population and curtail the quantities of materials purchased) and the service they felt necessary to carry out for and in their communities?
Luisa Elena Alcalá, “10 preguntas preliminares… en torno a los objetos viajeros y los procuradores jesuitas”, en Blog ProJesArt, febrero 2023 [ https://projesart.org/blog/ ]
