Pictures in Focus: Two Paintings of the Virgin of Guadalupe from the Lorenzo Family

May 13, 2018

Pictures in Focus: Two Paintings of the Virgin of Guadalupe from the Lorenzo Family

My survey of new images of the Virgin Mary in the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection takes us this week to the Mexican village of Xalitla and the Lorenzo Family, noted for their sacred artworks in acrylic on masonite panels resembling amate paper paintings. Lucas, the family patriarch, and his son, Jesus, offer us two variations in a naif folk art style of the Virgin of Guadalupe. They copy her miraculous image, which appeared on a cloak given to the Aztec peasant, Juan Diego, in a Marian apparition in December 1531, now displayed at a pilgrimage shrine at Guadalupe. Father Lucas offers a complete picture of the holy cloak with an angel supporting the crescent moon on which the Virgin stands. Jesus takes a more decorative approach showing Mary in colorful, dotted garments in a floral bower.  The new pair of Guadalupe Virgins joins other variations in paint of this iconic Mexican image on the Lorenzo Family page in the Sacred Artists section. (John Kohan)