The names of Bernardo Bitti, Matteo Perez de Alecio and Angelino Medoro are always recalled when the art produced in the Viceroyalty of Peru comes to mind. Having been trained in Italy, the arrival of these three painters to the New World in the last quarter of the sixteenth century became a reference point from which art historians, comparing their works to subsequent local artistic production, could identify and reveal the main characteristics of the art created there. It seemed to be clear that the European model had been rapidly adapted to regional needs and expectations, so that this kind of approach, being so obvious, appeared to be unavoidable.

Furthermore, it was accepted that it was necessary to find a point of contact with Europe in order to understand the beginning of that artistic production, and it should be something stronger and more consistent than the trade of works of art coming from Seville or the circulation of prints. Hence, these three Italian painters were invoked to prove that the art produced in that region after the arrival of Europeans had arisen in line with the prescriptions adopted by the third generation of Italian mannerists.

The paintings created by these artists or in their artistic circles spread throughout the Viceroyalty of Peru, in the territory that is composed at present by Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. However, when one compares these works of art to the contemporaneous production of Italian Mannerism or to the ensuing art made in the New World it is possible to find a huge distance separating all these contexts.