Art and the Image

Your visit to the Marian Congress and Guadalupe Festival will not be complete without seeing these wonderful works of art! The Art and the Image Exhibit will be comprised of some 15 works of art, including those shown here.

The artwork presented in this exhibit testifies to this transcendent and cross-cultural love. Art and the Image is a collection of works from artists of different centuries, cultures, and customs. Whether from the United States, Mexico, or Italy, these artists have shown that anyone throughout the world can celebrate the miracle at Tepeyac. In these depictions, the Blessed Virgin’s image jumps off the agave fiber cloth, and straight onto canvas, stone, or glass. These pieces serve as channels for Our Lady’s unifying message of love to be disseminated throughout the Americas and the entire world.

The apparition of the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe to a simple and humble layman is a wonderful example of God’s universal love for all of us. As we see on the tilma – the cloth on which her image appears – the figure of Our Lady is a representation of the mixed European and Latin American cultures that were present in Mexico during the mid 16th century. Her face is characterized as mestizo, or having both European and indigenous Latin American ancestry. She is also wrapped in a European style cloak, adorned with native symbols from central Mexico. Mary’s appearance in this very way sends a strong message that God’s love knows no cultural bounds.