https://earlymoderneurope.hist.sites.carleton.edu/files/original/652a2c6ea67ccda90d5a59af6247190f.jpg fe654a434daf685ed044e131a0ecf99f Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Painting Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image Framed- 41 5/16 x 49 5/8 x 1 1/2 in. (104.9 x 125.98 x 3.81 cm); Unframed- 39 1/2 x 47 1/2 in. (100.3 3 x 120.65 cm) Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Casta Painting Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Teddy Wolfe Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1760 Description An account of the resource Casta paintings were family portraits displaying different Spanish colonial couples and their children that were often crafted around the 1700s. The paintings are important for a number of reasons related to race and status. The first is how they portray domestic violence or, in some cases, female aggression. This was meant to symbolize power dynamics within the family, and drew from stereotypes about certain races. For instance, most images of female aggression had black women— implying their strength (Martinez, 235). Thus, the paintings allowed outsiders to see a bit of how gender dynamics occurred (or at least were displayed) within the colonial family. These paintings also represented the Spaniards’ biggest fear— that their blood could be ‘corrupted’ by outside influences. For instance, blackness was viewed as a permanent stain on the family tree— a sin passed down through the Biblical story of Ham (Martinez, 235). These racial signifiers manifested themselves as traits which were dictated by a child’s heritage. For instance, one painting has text at the bottom that declares a child’s, “proud nature and sharp wits of the Mulatto woman come from the White [male] and Black woman who produce her…” (Martínez, 233). In the language of the painting, these children were considered Spaniards, but less so because of their added traits. This differentiation was representative of a larger tension within Spanish colonial policies to both assimilate and differentiate Native Americans from their settlers. They wanted to integrate and ‘civilize’ these Natives— thus integrating them— yet also keep them separate so that they couldn’t adopt the same privileges as the Spaniards (Earle, 179). In summary, these paintings represent many of the tensions of Spanish colonialism, and how Spaniards struggled to understand race and gender within this new landscape. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Ruiz, Juan Patricio Morlete. X. From Spaniard and Return Backwards, Hold Yourself Suspended in Mid Air (De Español Y Torna Atrás, Tente En El Aire) (Image 1 of 6). circa date QS:P571,+1760- -00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 1760. Framed- 41 5/16 x 49 5/8 x 1 1/2 in. (104.9 x 125.98 x 3.81 cm); Unframed- 39 1/2 x 47 1/2 in. (100.3 3 x 120.65 cm). Los Angeles County Museum of Art. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:X._De_espanol_y_torna_atras,_tente_en_el_aire_(Casta_painting)_LACMA_M.2011.20.3_(1_of_6).jpg. Maria Elena Martínez, “Changing Contours: ‘Limpieza de Sangre’ in the Age of Reason and Reform” in Genealogical Fictions: Limpieza de Sangre, Religion, and Gender in Colonial Mexico, (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008), 227-264 Rebecca Earle, “Mutable Bodies in Spain and the Indies” in The Body of the Conquistador: Food, Race and the Colonial Experience in Spanish America, 1492-1700, (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 187-216 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Public Domain Colonialism Paintings Relationships spain