This work pictorially represents the sculptural image of the Assumption of Mary who is venerated in the church of Santa Maria known as la Redonda (the Round one), due to the circular architectural execution of the temple. [1] As with many paintings that have copied sculptures it is a true copy or true effigy, i.e. it reproduces the tutelary image so precisely thus guaranteeing its recognition, and transmits part of its value as an image that could produce miracles, and as a work done by a portent.
Several chronicles from the 17th and 18th centuries recount that the Virgin of the Redonda, in the indigenous neighborhood of Cuepopan, was truly of supernatural origin: parts of the face and hands were sent from Spain by Fray Rodrigo de Zequera, General Commissioner of the Franciscans in New Spain, to an indigenous leader of the neighborhood that would finance the image. [2] She delivered the pieces to some recognized artists who would make the sculpture with cane pulp. During the artistic process it was kept under lock and key, still very imperfect, so it could dry. The next day the image appeared finished and "perfect", causing much devotion due to its supernatural origin, interpreted as angelic. [3]The image became famous and was highly revered, as well as being considered miraculous; therefore, it was copied for private shrines or temples, in paintings such as this one from the Amparo Museum.
The iconography of the Virgin is very special because it represents an Assumption standing on cherubs that are raising it to heaven, but her hands are held together in prayer and crown, as if it were Immaculate. In addition, several pictorial copies, as discussed, also represent a palm of martyrdom that relates, in some narratives, with a second Annunciation, that is, when the Archangel Gabriel visited Mary to herald her approaching death, leaving the palm as a symbol of her triumph.[4] The work of the Amparo Museum is a somewhat artisanal work, which is evident in the representation of space and volume, however, it was made in detail. The use of gold, although in very small quantities, makes evident the interest of its financer in the Marian devotion.[5] In Tlaxcala there is another true portrait of the Virgin, painted by Miguel Lucas de Bedoya, in the Chapel of Guadalupe, Basilica of Our Lady of Ocotlan.
[1]. In the limited research on this small temple there are discrepancies in the date and the reason behind the "rotunda" that gave its name to the temple, but apparently in the seventeenth century the temple had already been named as such.
[2]. The temple was transferred to the secular clergy in 1753, becoming a parish.
[3]. Reta, Martha, “De angelicalis artifífiales: Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Santa María la Redonda”, in Boletín Guadalupano, México, Insigne y Nacional Basílica de Guadalupe, Año IV, Núm. 54, Junio 2005, [consulted in May of 2012]. http://www.boletinguadalupano.org.mx/boletin/cultura/asuncion.htm
[4]. Schenone, Héctor H., Santa María: iconografía del arte colonial(Santa Maria: Iconography of Colonial Art), Argentina, Educa, 2008, p. 482.
[5]. Estudio de José Luis Ruvalcaba Sil, abril 2012, (Study by José Luis Ruvalcaba Sil, April 2012) pp. 7-8.
