Mexican, early 19th century

Virgin of Guadalupe

Oil on engraving, mounted on canvas

15 x 10 7/8 inches (38 x 27.4 cm); in a marquetry frame with inlaid dragons, geometric patterns, mother of pearl, with a portrait of Father Miguel Hidalgo inlaid top center 21 x 15 ¼ inches (53.3 x 38.7 cm)

Inscribed : VERDADERO RETRATO DE NRA. SEÑORA DE GUADALUPE DE MEXICO PATRONA DE LA NUEVA ESPAÑA

Both the Guadalupe and, in this case, the portrait of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla inlaid on the elaborate marquetry frame, are symbolic of Mexican national consciousness and its fight for independence from Spain.

Puebla had long been a center for the craft of marquetry, and many Colonial period examples survive, both of small decorative arts and large scale decoration.

The particular technique employed here was an engraving as a basis for a work in another medium. The artist made a painting on top of an engraving; the result is an oil painting, because except for the outlines of the figures, it does not resemble the print underneath. We know that artists in the New World worked like this, from literal ‘pattern books’, since at least the seventeenth century.