Museo Larco: Golden Years

If the countryside is good for lessons in biology and geology, big cities have provided us with some excellent history lessons. Lima's Museo Larco makes for a particularly good school day.

I'm not really one for shards of ancient pottery. However, the layout in Museo Larco, all in Spanish, English and French, really makes even the most mundane fragments of everday life in ancient and pre-modern South America come alive. As for the jewelry and ritual attire of high priests and kings, these can only impress and amaze even the most jaded observer. 

We learn about the ritual aspects of warfare, the system of measurement and units of commerce, ceremonies of sacrifice and also have spelled out for us the process of cultural fusion between Catholicism and Paganism, Inca and European traditions, that we've observed time and again on this trip.  Syncretism, "The amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought", is perhaps most vividly illustrated in a fabulous family tree, that shows the Conquistadores as direct descendants of their Inca predecessors. I'm reminded of the Soviets' appropriation of Orthodox iconography in their early propaganda. Century after century of self-legimization by usurpers, the world over. 

It's amazing how the colors of feather banners and head-dresses, woven approximately one thousand years ago, still retain their intense colors. I'm reminded for a moment of the collection at Benoit's place in Brussels, where Brazilian feather hats and head-dresses made for startling decoration at the dance party Pierre and Iris invited us to. Almost as bright as the dayglo patent leather puffa jacket worn by Icaro, who mixed some wicked mojitos to keep us on our feet on the dancefloor. I'm digressing...  

With headgear like this, of course the subjects of the kingdom would have thought these high priests and kings were demi-gods. Dazzled by the gold and this close encounter with indigenous peoples, we stroll into the magnificent garden, sidestepping the erotic pottery galleries (enough school for one day...), and take tea in the shade of an amazing hyacinth canopy before we head back to hotel to pack. A fitting final stop to our time in colorful Peru (as captured here by Flo on Pirouette).