The Denver Art Museum counts among its greatest resources a world-renowned Spanish Colonial collection rich in art from all over Latin America. Initiated in 1936, the Spanish Colonial collection has grown dramatically over the years to include more than 3,000 objects. It is the best collection of its type in the United States, and in many areas, it is the most comprehensive collection outside the country of origin. The museum's Spanish Colonial galleries include significant paintings, sculpture, furniture, silver, and decorative arts from the period.

This lavishly illustrated volume - the first ever devoted to the museum's Spanish Colonial collection as a whole - serves as a primer to this stellar art collection, framing it within the historical context of the early modern world and the first era of global trade. Organized by theme rather than chronology, it features photographs of more than 100 objects from all areas of Spanish America and the southwestern United States. Subjects discussed include, but are not limited to, the continuity of native traditions, church and mission art, hybrid art forms, regional styles, and the art of everyday life.