Americas Collection
Anonymous
Anonymous, Our Lady of Guadalupe with St. Ann and Joachim, 19th
century, oil on canvas, 14 x 10 _ inches. Collection of the ASU Art Museum,
gift of Alicia Slette 1966.762.000.
About the Painting
The Virgin of Guadalupe is one of the most revered figures in Mexican Catholicism. Her story in Mexico begins with her miraculous appearance to Juan Diego (Cuauhtlatohuac), a young Aztec man, on December 9, 1531. He was on his way to receive Christian instruction from the Fransciscans at Tlatelolco when he heard heavenly music and a sweet voice calling his name. He saw the Virgin, on this rocky Tepeyac Hilll above Mexico City. It was her wish that the Bishop build her shrine on that spot. This same place was also the site of the shrine to the Aztec goddess of Earth and Corn, Tonantzin, which had been destroyed on the orders of the first Archbishop of Mexico as part of Spain's spiritual conquest of the New World. To help Juan Diego prove her appearance to the Bishop, the Virgin of Guadalupe made Castillian roses bloom on Tepeyac and told Juan Diego to gather them in his cape. When he did this and delivered them to the Bishop, an image of Guadalupe was visible on the cape. She also cured Juan Diego's uncle who was dying.
The original image was hung in the chapel which was built on Tepeyac. Thousands of Indians converted after hearing of the miracles performed by the Virgin of Guadalupe. In 1754, a Papal Bull declared the Virgin of Guadalupe Patroness and Protectress of New Spain. Because she appeared with the same physical attributes as the Indians in the Valley of Mexico, she was especially loved by them. She told Juan Diego, "I am the Mother of all of you who dwell in this land"
The Virgin of Guadalupe then, represents an object of personal devotion, a symbol of the converted Indian in Mexico who transferred belief in a pre-Columbian goddess to Mary, and a holy figure that validated the spiritual existence of New Spain, and eventually, of the Republic of Mexico. She is almost always shown exactly as portrayed in this small oil painting on canvas - wearing a starry blue cape, floating inside an almond-shaped mandorla, crowned as the Queen of Heaven, and standing in a crescent moon that is held aloft by a cherub.
In this particular work, The Virgin is also surrounded by cherubs who are holding the symbols of the Immaculate Mary, such as the Rose without a Thorn, the Madonna Lily, the Spotless Looking Glass, and the Palm of Victory. The man and woman kneeling below are her parents, Saints Joachim and Anne. The Virgin is linked to the hands of her parents by a flower with leafy stems, making her appear as the flower of their union. The low blue hills in the background probably represent the hill of Tepeyac and the surrounding area.
We do not know the name of the artist who painted this canvas but it is similar in style to some of the small paintings on tin that were made in Mexico in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There are two more examples of Mexican paintings of the Virgin of Guadalupe, one on tin and one on copper, in the Museum collection. If you are interested in learning about contemporary festivities celebrated in the Virgins' honor, read Frances Toor's chapter on society, custom, and fiesta in A Treasury of Mexican Folkways published by Crown in 1947.
ASU | Herberger College | ASU Art Museum | Internal Resources | Staff Directory
