Bernardo Bitti

Bernardo Bitti was an Italian Jesuit artist who specialized in Mannerism, which he later introduces this style to Peruvian art. Bitti traveled to Lima, Peru on a Jesuit expedition as a consequence of the Spanish Crown's attempt to colonize and evangelize the indigenous. Bitti produced many paintings for churches throughout the Peruvian viceroyalty. One those churches he was commissioned for was the Church of San Pedro, Lima. He was requested to create a large altarpiece showing the Coronation of the Virgin. The composition consists of the Virgin Mary being lifted to the heavens surrounded by the holy trinity. Christ is to her right, God is to her left, and the dove is above her representing the holy spirit. Angels and cherubs are floating on clouds and playing instruments while surrounding the Virgin Mary and Holy Trinity. 

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Bitti's depiction of the Coronation of the Virgin was a piece of artwork that served as propaganda for the Catholic Church in order to reform the indigenous people. The most important element of Bitt's Coronation of the Virgin is his representation of the holy trinity. Dividing the holy trinity into three distinct figures was crucial to exposing and converting the indigenous to this new religion. This was new for the indigenous has they followed a polytheistic perspective of religion. Europeans learned later on that some Andean religions had believed in Gods of three. Europeans used this information to their benefit by manipulating indigenous people into making them believe that the Gods they already believed in were the same Gods that the Catholic Church followed. This association made it easier for the Europeans to convert the indigenous people into Christianity by the holy trinity symbolism found in artwork, such as Bitti's Coronation of the Virgin.