The construction of the Cathedral of Antigua Guatemala in the 17th century from the pictorial documents

Abstract

[EN] In 1678, the painter Antonio Ramírez elaborated a picture explaining the condition of the works of the cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala (now la Antigua Guatemala), a picture that allows us to establish the evolution undergone by the cathedral from the second half of the XVII century to its current state. Throughout this evolution, we want to highlight those construction elements that have been able to withstand not only the course of time, but above all, the force of the numerous earthquakes that have affected Guatemala since 1678 until today. In addition, Ramirez's work offers a series of brief but very illustrative brushstrokes on the organization of a construction in the second half of the XVII century, data that enriches the history of Guatemalan colonial architecture.