This presentation will demonstrate how translation functions in colonial Latin America as an epistemological mechanism that not only produces a distorted understanding of indigenous American cultural practices but also often contributes to the transformation of such practices. These colonial transformations are projected upon the indigenous past and reinforce the legitimacy of the original distortions. Particular emphasis will be given to a case study that traces the emergence of the idea of Inca representational painting to colonial mistranslations that were reinforced by the adoption of European painting conventions by indigenous artists during the colonial period.