RAFAEL TROYA (1845-1920)
El Antisana (5,753 m -18,874 ft)
Ecuador (Napo)
In El Antisana o La cacería del venado, oil on canvas, 1918,
Archivo Histórico del Banco Central del Ecuador, Quito.
Colección Banco Central del Ecuador, Guayaquil
The volcano
El Antisana (5,753 m -18,874 ft) is a stratovolcano of the Andes Cordillera, located in Ecuador, in the province of Napo. Its last eruption dates back to 1801 (strombolian-type eruption, with lava flows, dome formation at the top that encloses the main crater, ash rain).
EL Antisana separates the Andean Corridor where Quito (located 50 km to the northwest), the province of Pichincha, the Amazon region and the province of Napo. It is the fourth highest peak of Ecuador. The volcano formed in the southeastern part of the great Chacana caldera and has a cone-like shape typical of stratovolcanoes. The summit is formed in a double cone, the most recent cone-shaped, with a breach, and partly overlooking the old cone, which is composed of two caldeiras (east and south).
The eternal snows cover the two cones. The volcano is very often hidden in the clouds.
It is considered an active volcano because of a perceptible activity via fumaroles releases in craters, hot springs (used for thermal tourism), and the last eruptions that occurred during the 18th century. The eruption of 1728, for example, was similar to the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. However, the presence of a large glacier, and eternal snows, present a risk for the populations of the province of Pichincha and the capital Quito, and its metropolitan area to the east.
El Antisana is known to offer a higher technical challenge than the rest of Ecuadorian volcanoes. Because of its extremely moving glacier, there is no conventional way due to the fact many crevasses appear and disappear each year. Antisana is also known to offer one of the most dramatic climate change topics in Latin America as it is estimated that one-third of its glacier has disappeared in 30 years.
The painter
The painter
Rafael Troya (1845-1920) was an Ecuadorian painter born, the son of the painter Vicente Troya. Being a teenager, he is taken to the Colegio de la Compañia de Jesus in Quito, but he soon abandons the clerical career to dedicate himself to what was his true vocation: painting. With the painter Luis Cadena, he learns the technique of colors. In 1872, he definitely choose the landscape and accompanied Reis and Stübel on their study trips in Ecuador on Nature and Archeology. Troya becomes the portraitist of nature, painting compositions full of color and life. In 1890 he came back in the capital of Imbabureña, and decided to be completely dedicated to his art. There he made several masterpieces, such as the paintings on the Apostles, which today are admired in the Ibarra Cathedral, the Ibarra Foundation, preserved in the Hall of the city of Ibarra; Allegory of love, panoramic view of Ibarra; The earthquake of Imbabura, and several religious canvases that are conserved in some churches of Quito, in the church of Caranqui and in the Museum of the Central Bank of Quito. In his paintings, green and bluish tones predominate, characteristic of his native land. He painted a lot of mountains of the Andes and the most famous volcanoes of the Cordillera.
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2018 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
