Attributed to Miguel Cabrera.

Attributed to MIGUEL CABRERA, (Mexico, 1695 - 1768).
"Virgin of Guadalupe.
Oil on copper.
Measurements: 32 x 22 cm; 51 x 42 cm (frame).

The Virgin of Guadalupe is the most important and most worshiped Virgin in Mexico and other Latin American countries. Since the viceregal era, a complex iconography has developed around her cult, and a great artistic production that is characterized by the conjunction of local art with the European artistic tradition brought from Spain. The origin of the Virgin of Guadalupe is from Extremadura, but the Mexican version has its own origins. An ancient legend narrates that, in 1531, she appeared to a recently baptized Indian named Juan Diego. He asked him to ask the bishop to build a chapel in his honor, leaving his image imprinted on the Indian's tunic. This event became known as the Miracle of the Roses, and was recorded in the "Nican Mopohua", a text presumably written by the Indian Antonio Valeriano. The Mexican image of the Virgin of Guadalupe always appears surrounded by solar rays, an iconographic feature that comes from the apocalyptic and sibylline Virgins, both celestial apparitions. Likewise, her iconography was completed by partially assimilating the immaculist iconography, whose symbolism was established in Spain during the 16th century. It is a numerous set of symbols, extracted from the Song of Songs and the Apocalypse. From the text of St. John we take the crescent moon, evoking the chastity of Diana and, later, the victory over the Turks; the angels that surround her, the mandorla of solar rays, the hands in an attitude of prayer and the crown of twelve stars, symbol of fullness.

Miguel Cabrera was one of the greatest exponents of Novo-Hispanic baroque painting. Born in the town of Tlalixtac, in Oaxaca, he dedicated his work to religious themes and especially to the figure of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and on this last theme he wrote "American marvel and set of rare wonders observed with the direction of the rules of the art of painting" (1756). Among his most outstanding works are those he made for some chapels of the cathedral of Mexico City, among them the sacristy, which houses in one of its walls a "Woman of the Apocalypse". Cabrera was also the chamber painter of Archbishop José Manuel Rubio y Salinas, and in 1753 he founded the first painting academy in Mexico. He also painted some portraits, such as that of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1751). Miguel Cabrera was especially splendid in his small and medium-sized works, both on canvas and copper. His warm and vivid colors, unparalleled in the Novo-Hispanic school of the 18th century, stand out, as well as his firm drawing and the poetic expressions of the faces of his Virgins, saints and even portraits of characters of his time. He was a very prolific artist, and enjoyed a very large workshop with apprentices specialized in specific tasks. When composing his works he used to base himself, sometimes literally, on prints of Spanish and Flemish origin, a common practice not only in America but also in Europe. On the other hand, we see in his production a strong influence of Murillo, which makes us think that he must have worked in the workshop of the Rodriguez Juarez brothers, then at the height of their glory, in Mexico City. Currently his works are kept in several of the main Mexican temples, as well as in the Museo del Virreinato in Tepozotlán, the Museo de América in Madrid, the Museo de El Carmen in San Ángel (Mexico City), the Museo Nacional de las Intervenciones in Coyoacán, the Pinacoteca Virreinal in Mexico City, the Dallas Museum of Art and the Museo de Santa Mónica in Puebla.