The mystical transportation of the house of Nazareth to the 15th Century Italian town of Loretto and subsequent apparition of the holy cottage at Alcantara (near Lisbon), are recalled by many viceregal paintings of the Virgen de Loreto with the infant Christ in her arms. Inspired by Hieronumus Wierix's engraving (1614), artists working in Lima portrayed Mary as a Solomonic "dressed statue" gracing the portal of a divine citadel. By contrast, Cuzqueño paintings of the theme generally depict the mother and child seated upon a red-tiled roof of a church supported by angels. In both Peruvian variations, triple crowns of gold adorn the figures. They serve as patent emblems of the two Trinities, the coeternal godhead mirrored by the earthly Holy Family. Devoted to St. Joseph, in whose name their institutions were dedicated, the Jesuits fostered veneration of the Virgen de Loreto. In imitation of the humble carpenter who built the house of Nazareth, the order erected "Chapels of Loreto", such as the Church of La Compañia (Cuzco) and the Royal College of San Martin (Lima).

Dr. Barbara von Barghahn
Washington, D.C.
March, 1994



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