The omnipresence of angels

invoking visual artefacts in the Jesuit missions of Paraguay

Abstract

This article analyses the angelic devotion present in the Jesuit missions of Paraguay. From the first half of the 17th century, decades in which a vast network of reductions was established on the banks of the great rivers and when the attacks of the bandeirantes permanently forced several of these settlements to be relocated, the invocation of the protective and warrior images of the angels, and in particular of the archangel St Michael, would play a preponderant role in the endurance and consolidation of the missions until the Company's expulsion in 1767. Embodied in the evolution of Jesuit-Guarani art, in canvases such as those by Louis Berger and sculptures such as those by Giuseppe Brasanelli, angels were essential pieces and constant allies in the evangelization policies carried out by the Company in the South American lowlands.