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Lot Essay
In 1291, after the Siege of Acre that resulted in the Crusaders losing their last major stronghold in the Holy Land, the Christians retreated back to Western Europe, bringing with them relics and devotional objects for their holy shrines. One such artefact was Santa Casa, or Holy House of Nazareth where the Virgin Mary was born and lived, and where she was visited by the angel Gabriel and conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Popular legend tells of a miraculous journey in which winged angels carried Mary’s house in its entirety from Nazareth in 1291, finally arriving in the Italian hillside town of Loreto on December 10th 1294. The Basilica della Santa Casa that was erected on site enshrines the Holy House of Mary, and within the house, is a niche that holds the ancient statue of the Virgin and Child, a so-called “Black Madonna” that some say were made by the hands of Saint Luke. Today, Our Lady of Loreto, and the Holy House of Loreto are among the most venerated and revered sites of Marian devotion in Europe.
In the Americas, the cult of the Virgin of Loreto was popularized by the Jesuit missionaries, however it is possible that the Franciscan Order also promoted her image.1 Indeed, the wide-spread admiration for the Virgin of Loreto throughout colonial Latin America—from the south in Chile and as far north as Baja California—is rivaled to that of the Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain.2 These awe-inspiring images of the Virgin and Child provided a powerful evangelizing message, and were proliferated by missionaries in the Americas through paintings and prints.
Pertaining to the genre called statue painting, Nuestra Señora de Loreto presents an accurate rendering of the sculpture housed within the Holy House at Loreto. These two-dimensional representations of statues of the Virgin Mary became widely popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as surrogates for those miraculous images housed in shrines in Europe—a “divine trompe-l'œil’3 that aided in the expansion of the Christian message in Spain’s territories abroad.
The present work bears similarities to the sculpture at Loreto, but with a number of modifications, suggesting that the artist looked to multiple sources for inspiration. Here, a carved niche framed by Solomonic columns and a cinquefoil arch displays the Virgin and Child, both of whom wear lavishly ornamented crowns. The figures are static, confirmation that they are indeed statues, and the Christ Child’s face and hands are only discernable as he appears to emerge from the Virgin’s stiff gown, much like the sculpture itself. Other compositional elements bear a striking semblance to the sixteenth-century engraving by Flemish artist, Hieronymus Wierix (1548-1624), such as the jewels that adorn the Virgin’s cloak, the hanging oil lamps that appear to burn continuously, and the flying putti (clothed angels in the Wierix engraving) that hold candles on either side of the Virgin in veneration of her image.
Much like the Virgin of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Montserrat, and Our Lady of the Sacristy of Toledo (all of which had ardent followings in the Americas), the Virgin of Loreto belongs to an important group of Marian images called Virgenes morenas or “Black Madonnas.” It was believed that these medieval cult images that pictured the Mother of God with brown or black skin tones were the result of centuries of incense and candle smoke which had thus darkened her appearance. Despite this, many Spanish colonial versions portrayed these Virgenes morenas with lighter complexions in part because artists were using black and white prints as their guide, but also in some cases at the request of the church or patron.4 This splendid example therefore presents an unusual, but certainly not unprecedented rendering of the Holy Virgin, suggesting that perhaps in addition to prints, the artist had access to other painted sources. More importantly however, in remaining faithful to the original image, the artist provided compelling visual proof of the significance of the image and its long history of veneration through pilgrimage and prayer.
In the Americas, the cult of the Virgin of Loreto was popularized by the Jesuit missionaries, however it is possible that the Franciscan Order also promoted her image.1 Indeed, the wide-spread admiration for the Virgin of Loreto throughout colonial Latin America—from the south in Chile and as far north as Baja California—is rivaled to that of the Virgin of Guadalupe in New Spain.2 These awe-inspiring images of the Virgin and Child provided a powerful evangelizing message, and were proliferated by missionaries in the Americas through paintings and prints.
Pertaining to the genre called statue painting, Nuestra Señora de Loreto presents an accurate rendering of the sculpture housed within the Holy House at Loreto. These two-dimensional representations of statues of the Virgin Mary became widely popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as surrogates for those miraculous images housed in shrines in Europe—a “divine trompe-l'œil’3 that aided in the expansion of the Christian message in Spain’s territories abroad.
The present work bears similarities to the sculpture at Loreto, but with a number of modifications, suggesting that the artist looked to multiple sources for inspiration. Here, a carved niche framed by Solomonic columns and a cinquefoil arch displays the Virgin and Child, both of whom wear lavishly ornamented crowns. The figures are static, confirmation that they are indeed statues, and the Christ Child’s face and hands are only discernable as he appears to emerge from the Virgin’s stiff gown, much like the sculpture itself. Other compositional elements bear a striking semblance to the sixteenth-century engraving by Flemish artist, Hieronymus Wierix (1548-1624), such as the jewels that adorn the Virgin’s cloak, the hanging oil lamps that appear to burn continuously, and the flying putti (clothed angels in the Wierix engraving) that hold candles on either side of the Virgin in veneration of her image.
Much like the Virgin of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Montserrat, and Our Lady of the Sacristy of Toledo (all of which had ardent followings in the Americas), the Virgin of Loreto belongs to an important group of Marian images called Virgenes morenas or “Black Madonnas.” It was believed that these medieval cult images that pictured the Mother of God with brown or black skin tones were the result of centuries of incense and candle smoke which had thus darkened her appearance. Despite this, many Spanish colonial versions portrayed these Virgenes morenas with lighter complexions in part because artists were using black and white prints as their guide, but also in some cases at the request of the church or patron.4 This splendid example therefore presents an unusual, but certainly not unprecedented rendering of the Holy Virgin, suggesting that perhaps in addition to prints, the artist had access to other painted sources. More importantly however, in remaining faithful to the original image, the artist provided compelling visual proof of the significance of the image and its long history of veneration through pilgrimage and prayer.