Contemplating the Landscape: Bernardo Ramírez, Pedro Cortés y Larraz, and the Mapping of Guatemala, 1768–1770

Between 3 November 1768 and 29 August 1770, Archbishop Pedro Cortés y Larraz conducted a visita, a pastoral tour of inspection, of the Central American diocese placed under his charge by King Charles III of Spain. A written account of the visita, the Descripción geográfico-moral de la diócesis de Goathemala, is complemented by watercolor maps of the parishes his visitations took him to, landscape renderings painted by an artist who accompanied the archbishop but whose identity has long been unknown. Evidence now at hand intimates that he may have been Bernardo Ramírez, an architect who later played a key role in the construction of a new capital, Guatemala City, after the old one, Santiago de Guatemala, today Antigua, was destroyed by earthquakes in July 1773. Attributing authorship to Ramírez rests on comparisons made between maps and plans known to be his and visual depictions in the watercolors and draft sketches of them. Identification is not considered definitive but rather suggestive.