The Virgin of Guadalupe with the Four Apparitions

Nicolás Enríquez painted this 1773 Virgin of Guadalupe as a worship object for his patron. The painting has been “Tocada a su Maravilloso Original,” “Touched by the wondrous original,” meaning it has been sanctified by contact with the sacred image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

According to legend, the Christian Virgin Mary appeared as a Nahuatl-speaking woman to Juan Diego, a converted Indigenous man, at Tepeyacac in 1531. She left her image on his cloak. The faithful believe that image resides at the Basilica of Guadelupe, one of the world’s most-visited pilgrimage sites. Art historians think the Indigenous artist Marcos Cipac (de Aquino) painted it.

Tepeyacac was a precolonial goddess worship site, and some still refer to Mary as “Tonantzin,” a Nahuatl term meaning “Our Mother.” The Virgin has been used to further both colonial and Indigenous political aims.