Arriving in Peru in the wake of a civil war in 1569, Viceroy Francisco de Toledo (in office 1569–1581) saw his mission as restoring order to the war-torn Andes and establishing a functioning political system. This document is an excerpt from his instructions to visitadores, or royal inspectors. In his unrelenting efforts to cement Spanish rule in the colony and to establish religious orthodoxy, Toledo sought to discredit and to disable both the religious and political organizations of the Inka state. In this excerpt, he focuses on images, including those appearing on keros, the ceremonial drinking vessels native Andeans exchanged as political gifts and used in feasts.

One of Viceroy Toledo's policies for dismantling indigenous political power was to discredit Inka traditions by ordering that certain "dangerous" images be effaced from objects, buildings, and clothing. And in cities like Cuzco, Toledo also moved to control indigenous artisans like silversmiths through official oversight of their workshops.

Among the objects Toledo singles out are keros (which he calls cups, or vasos). These formed an important part of Andean political feasting, wherein local government leaders came together with people of different classes to reaffirm mutual responsibilities and obligations. The designs on these vessels often carried religious meaning, because for the Inka, like the Spanish, political order was sanctioned by the divine. In addition, keros came in pairs and this duality was a metaphor for the close bonds that tied Andean rulers and subjects.

See a painted kero in the Vistas Gallery.