Mestiza with Strawberry

The first painting in the series painted by Vicente Alban is entitled Yapanga de Quito, which may be translated as Mestiza or Chola of Quito. Like the others in the series, this painting is oil on canvas, measuring 109 × 80 cm. Here, Albán represents a yapanga surrounded by trees and fruits, with a numbered reference and brief description of each. In the lower left-hand corner, Alban paints a strawberry plant with a caption that reads: ‘Arvolito que produce las Frutillas y son una especie de Fresas como las de España, pero mucho más gruesas y dulces’ (‘Shrub that produces the Frutilla strawberry which is like the Fresa strawberries of Spain, only fatter and sweeter’). The strawberry plant is painted with detail, including the fruits, flowers and runners with their sterile and productive knots –a skilled demonstration of local botanical knowledge.