Résumé

Cuzco, the capital of the Inca empire, has a prominent place in the study of pre-Colombian and Spanish colonial urbanism. Schreffler's book is among the first to focus on early colonial Cuzco (1530s–1550s). Since Cuzco’s colonial-period architecture dates mostly to the late 17th century, Schreffler (art, Univ. of Notre Dame) draws predominately from textual sources and archaeological data to reconstruct the changing form, representations, and institutions of the city. He deciphers the narratives of key chroniclers of the conquest and Inca history to interpret how they envisioned the Inca capital and to show in turn how their writings influenced the later planning of Spanish Cuzco. Scheffler reveals that the Spanish relied heavily on architecture, material culture, staged ritual events (including Pizarro’s Act of Foundation in 1534), and written discourse in their attempts to refashion community and territory in the Andes. Inspired by the theories of Henri Lefebvre, the book demonstrates that representations of space in both words and imagery played a significant role in the production of Cuzco’s reimagined urban landscape. At the same time, the city's original plan and material conditions constrained the reinvention of Cuzco in the early colonial period. Beautifully illustrated, this book will appeal to those interested in preindustrial urbanism, aesthetics, and Iberian colonization.