Novo-Hispanic school; XVIII century.

Novo-Hispanic school; XVIII century.
"Virgin of Guadalupe".
Oil on copper.
Preserves case of the nineteenth century.
Signed Pius XII.
Measurements: 9 x 7 cm; 12 x 10 x 2,5 cm (case).
Portable painting conceived for private devotion, this work is inscribed in the rich and complex tradition of the iconography of Guadalupe, one of the most powerful and enduring visual expressions of the Latin American world. Since the 17th century, the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe acquired an extraordinary diffusion and formal variety, becoming the most venerated religious emblem in Mexico and extending its cult throughout vast regions of Latin America.
Although the origin of the cult of Guadalupe dates back to Extremadura, the novo-Hispanic version developed its own identity, deeply rooted in the American territory. According to ancient tradition, in 1531 the Virgin appeared on the hill of Tepeyac to Juan Diego, a recently baptized Indian, asking him to build a temple in her honor. As proof of the veracity of the apparition, she left her image miraculously imprinted on the seer's tilma, in the episode known as the Miracle of the Roses. This story was collected in the Nican Mopohua, a text attributed to Antonio Valeriano, and became the narrative and theological foundation of the cult.
The Novo-Hispanic image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is characterized by its envelope of solar rays, a feature that links it with the tradition of the Apocalyptic Virgin described in the Book of Revelation and with the sibylline representations, both associated with celestial manifestations. To this was added, since the 16th century, the assimilation of elements typical of the immaculist iconography developed in Spain, consolidating a visual synthesis loaded with symbolism: the moon under her feet, the starry mantle, the praying attitude and the supernatural luminosity that envelops her figure.