Francisco Fierro Palas, called "Pancho" Fierro (c. 1807/1809,

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

– 28 July 1879, Lima) was a Peruvian painter, known primarily for his

costumbrista ''Costumbrismo'' (sometimes anglicized as costumbrism, with the adjectival form costumbrist) is the literary or pictorial interpretation of local everyday life, mannerisms, and customs, primarily in the Hispanic scene, and particularly in the 19t ...

watercolors, which depict his country's life and customs.

Biography

He was baptized on 5 February 1809, the son of Nicolás Rodríguez del Fierro, a priest, and a slave from the household of Nicolás' father, Don Antonio, a Colonel in the Militia Battalion. He had been

manumitted Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that ...

upon his birth, following a rule that said no son of a Spaniard could be born a slave, but was raised by his mother's family. There is no record of him receiving any artistic training, so he was probably self-taught. He married in 1828 and made his living by painting signs, making posters for bullfights and molding statues for

nativity scene In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, crèche ( or ), or in Italian ''presepio'' or ''presepe'', or Bethlehem) is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christmas season, of art objects rep ...

s. He also painted wall murals, all of which have been destroyed or covered over. Today, he is remembered for his watercolors, painted on sign cards, depicting everyday scenes from Peruvian life. He created over 1200 of them and their popularity produced many imitators. The writer

Ricardo Palma Manuel Ricardo Palma Soriano (February 7, 1833 – October 6, 1919) was a Peruvian author, scholar, librarian and politician. His magnum opus is the ''Tradiciones peruanas''. Biography According to the official account, Manuel Ricardo Pa ...

owned a large collection which his heirs gave to the City of Lima. They are now on display at the Pinacoteca Municipal Ignacio Merino. The captions were provided by Palma, as Fierro may have been illiterate. Other large collections were acquired by the French painter Léonce Angrand and the Russian ethnographer

Leopold von Schrenck Peter Leopold von Schrenck (russian: Леопольд Иванович фон Шренк; 1826 – 8 January 1894) was a Russian zoologist, geographer and ethnographer. Biography Schrenck came from a Baltic German family, and was born and b ...

, whose collection is now at the "Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography" in the

Kunstkamera The Kunstkamera (russian: Кунсткамера) or Kunstkammer (German for "Culture Room" (literally) or "Art Chamber", typically used for a " cabinet of curiosities") is a public museum located on the Universitetskaya Embankment in Saint Pet ...

, Saint Petersburg. He also painted Juan Jose Cabezudo, a gay chef from Lima. According to an obituary in '' El Comercio'', he died of paralysis in a hospital on Peruvian Independence Day.

Selected watercolors

File:Montoneroperuano.JPG, Peruvian Montonera File:Marinera-panchofierro.jpg, Dancing the

Marinera Marinera is a courtship dance that originated along the coastal regions of Peru, using handkerchiefs as props. The dance is a mix of Spanish contradanza and Andean zamacueca, and is a stylized reenactment of a courtship, showing a blend of t ...

File:El que trae aguardiente de Yca. 1820).jpg, Carrying

Aguardiente ( Spanish), or ( Portuguese) ( eu, pattar; ca, aiguardent; gl, augardente), is a generic term for alcoholic beverages that contain between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). It originates in the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain) and in ...

from Ica File:Pulperia (1820).jpg,

Pulperia Pulperia was the name given to company stores and dining facilities in parts of South America, notably in the industries that extracted sodium nitrate from caliche deposits between 1850 and 1930 in Northern Chile in the current regions of Tarapac ...

File:Son de los diablos.jpg, " Son de los Diablos" File:WATER SELLER.jpg, Water seller File:Going to church - Pancho Fierro.jpg, Tapadas limeñas File:Francisco Fierro - Lady bathing at Chorrillos - Google Art Project.jpg, Lady bathing at Chorrillos File:ZAMACUECA DANCE (MESTIZA AND MULATO).jpg,

Afro-Peruvians Black Peruvians or Afro-Peruvians are Peruvian of mostly or partially African descent. They mostly descend from enslaved Africans brought to Peru after the arrival of the conquistadors. Early history The first Africans arrived with the conque ...

dancing the

Zamacueca The Zamacueca is an ancient colonial dance and music that originated in the Viceroyalty of Peru, taking its roots from Spanish, and Andean rhythms. Although currently the dance is not widely popular, several dance institutions in places such as Pe ...

References

External links

More watercolors
@ the Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango * Video Documentary: "Vida y Obras de Pancho Fierro" (narration in Spanish
Part IPart IIPart III
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fierro, Pancho Peruvian people of indigenous peoples descent Peruvian people of Spanish descent 1800s births 1879 deaths People from Lima Peruvian watercolourists 19th-century Peruvian painters 19th-century Peruvian male artists Peruvian male painters

Biography

Selected watercolors

Further reading

References

External links