The Virgin of Guadalupe exhibition at the Prado dispels prejudices about viceregal art.

▲ First Apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe, by unknown artist (Puebla). Oil on canvas, c. 1690-1720. Photo courtesy of the museum

Armando G. Tejeda

Correspondent

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, p. 5

Madrid. The Virgin of Guadalupe became the first icon of worship and identity of the modern era, with her image constantly being carried on both sides of the Atlantic, demonstrating her consecration as a universal devotional and political symbol.

The image of the dark-skinned Virgin flooded Madrid through a major exhibition, So Far, So Close: Guadalupe from Mexico to Spain, at the Prado Museum, which brought together 70 works, most of them belonging to Spain's heritage, which explain her deep presence on this side of the sea.

In addition, the Casa de México in Spain offers a more contemporary perspective on its presence in Mexican society through a popular art exhibition and an installation of pilgrim photographs by Mexican artist Alinka Echeverría.

Following Miguel Falomir's arrival as director of the Prado Museum, the priority was to eliminate the long-standing prejudices in Europe in general, and in Spain in particular, that the art produced by former colonies in Latin America or Asia is of lower quality and, therefore, outside the canon accepted by art historians.

This idea, or prejudice , led the Prado Museum to finally dispose of its viceregal art collection, concluding that it had little or no artistic value. Now, with the passage of time, it is seen as a colossal mistake. The exhibition of the Virgin of Guadalupe joins a series of initiatives to look at so-called viceregal art in a different light.

The exhibition brings together 70 pieces that offer a new perspective on the role of the Virgin of Guadalupe as a revealed image, object of worship, and symbol of identity in the Hispanic world. Through paintings, prints, sculptures, and books, the exhibition shows how this religious figure, born on Tepeyac Hill in 1531, transcended the borders of New Spain to become a powerful presence in the Spanish collective imagination.

The exhibition was curated by two Mexican experts, Dr. Jaime Cuadriello of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and Paula Mues Orts of the National Institute of Anthropology and History, who shared their wisdom from years of research.

The exhibition was divided into 11 thematic sections, combining small and large-format pieces, to showcase everything from the earliest depictions of apparitions to sophisticated true effigies reproduced for devotional or political purposes.

Geographical presence

The tour begins with a visual map that documents the surprising density of images of Guadalupe distributed throughout Spain: it is estimated that there are up to a thousand works of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Spain from the viceregal era.

This dispersion responds to economic, social, and political factors, such as trade with the Indies, mining, and the movement of officials. The works reflect the devotion and interests of communities, artists, merchants, nobility, and clergy, who made Guadalupe a shared devotion.

Falomir explained that there are many reasons why we chose the Virgin of Guadalupe. Obviously, because of her profound religious significance, as she is one of the most important Marian images in the Catholic world, and also an image that allows for multiple interpretations. We can see how the image was forged, what its connections are with other images in the Catholic world, how it interacts with others, and how it was forged as a symbol of identity for the Creoles of New Spain. All of this is reflected in this exhibition, but it also serves to explain why so many examples of no other religious image have reached the Iberian Peninsula .

Regarding the ongoing debate about the value of viceregal art and its historical marginalization by the European canon, Falomir explained: "We call it viceregal art because it's a historically appropriate term; the goal is to create an art history exhibition. There's nothing better for decolonizing than showing history; that's what these kinds of initiatives are for, to give visibility at the Prado Museum to art produced in Latin America. It's the best way to demonstrate that all art has comparable value, even if it differs in some representations, but that it has the same value. This contributes to standardizing artistic creations from all geographies and ending those prejudices."

Art, as we understand it, has been the result of a series of decisions we've made over time, and those decisions have excluded artistic expressions from the grand canon for many reasons, one of which is geography, which is what brings us together here. The Prado Museum is determined to be much more in tune with history, because if exhibitions like this have demonstrated anything, it's that all the taxonomies and many of the divisions that have survived are not natural. They don't reflect a historical reality.

Dr. Mues Orts explained to La Jornada : "We wanted to show that New Spain art is not isolated, that there are both religious and artistic connections. There was a flow between both shores, and we wanted to see these coincidences and how artists are working on similar themes."

The Virgin of Guadalupe has her iconographic roots in late Nordic Gothic images, with these women clothed in the sun, with rays on their backs and the moon at their feet. Many of these images have children. These images later spread to Italy and Spain. It is interpreted as an Immaculate Conception; there is even evidence that she was originally called the Conception of Mexico, which is why its reference is sometimes difficult to find. She was also referred to as apocalyptic, because the sun was at her back. But ultimately, they are part of a dialogue between both shores that has been little considered.

Jaime Cuadriello added: The Virgin of Guadalupe is the most venerated image in Christianity, even for those who do not profess the Catholic faith; the oldest image on display is one received by the nun María Jesús de Ágreda (1602-1665) in Soria in 1656 .

Cult in the 21st Century

The exhibition at the Prado Museum covers the period up to the end of the 18th century, although, to provide an updated version of the Guadalupe cult in Mexico and the rest of the world, the Casa de México in Spain, in collaboration with the Madrid art gallery, is exhibiting pieces of popular art inspired by the Virgin of Guadalupe, in addition to the installation Camino al Tepeyac, by the Mexican artist Alinka Echeverría.