Retablos originally began in Spain during the early Middle Ages as paintings that hung behind the altar of a Catholic church. Spanish priests and colonists introduced small portable shrines in the 16th century to aid in the conversion of the Indigenous population to Catholicism. This tradition reached Peru after its colonisation by the Spanish and has continued to be a vital aspect of its folk art.
After gaining independence from Spain, post-independence folk art begins to flourish in Peru and other countries in Latin America, indigenous artists were finally free to create useful and beautiful pieces for their own benefit without having to follow the Catholic church’s rules.


In Ayacucho, a town in the mountains, over the coming centuries distinct variations of the original Retablos evolved. It became common to pair secular scenes with the images of saints. Two-level retablos, like two-storey houses, might have a scene of the nativity above, and a story of peasant life below. Popular scenes from the region were the pasion, which depicted the punishment of a thief by a hacienda owner, or the reunion, which depicted various occupations and activities of rural life.


Today, Peruvian Retablos are a sophisticated Peruvian folk art in the form of portable boxes which depict religious, historical, or everyday events that are important to the people of Peru.


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