Capilla del Hombre

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Lonely Planet review

Guayasamín's Chapel Of Man is one of the most important works of art in South America. This giant monument is a tribute to humankind, to the suffering of Latin America's indigenous poor, and to the undying hope for something better. Broken into 'three' both architecturally and thematically, it mirrors the Inca's reverence for the number. The museum exhibits adhere to the precolonial, colonial and contemporary themes of Guayasamín's career.

The collection itself is superb. One of the most impressive works is the mural Los Mutilados , a meditation on the Spanish Civil War. It's composed of eight separate paintings which can be rotated to create a total of three million combinations. Guayasamín studied Da Vinci for eight years and did 470 sketches to get it right. The other masterwork is the mural El condor y el toro , which represents the forced fight between a condor and a bull during Yaguar raimi (blood festival): a condor was tied to the bull's neck and, if the condor won, it prophesied a good harvest.