Exhibitions
A unique exhibition: Guadalupe from Mexico in Spain
An exhibition offering a unique look at how the Virgin of Guadalupe was reinterpreted, reproduced, and venerated in the Americas and Europe. Nearly seventy works can be seen in rooms C and D of the Jerónimos Building at the Museo Nacional del Prado, including paintings, sculptures, books, and prints.
The tour shows how this religious figure transcends the borders of New Spain to become a powerful presence in the Spanish collective imagination. From June 10 to September 14, the Virgin of Guadalupe, who emerged from Tepeyac Hill in 1531, is the epicenter of the exhibition, including works by Manuel de Arellano, Miguel Cabrera, Velázquez, Zurbarán, and José Juárez, curated by Mexican university professors Jaime Cuadriello (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and Paula Mues Orts (National Institute of Anthropology and History).
A unique look at the Prado with a dialogue between America and Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries entitled So Far, So Close . “There is nothing better for decolonization than showing history,” said Miguel Falomir, director of the Prado, “in this case, giving visibility to art made on the other side of the Atlantic.” The curators spent two years preparing this exhibition, which combines large-format works with smaller ones.
The painting by Diego Velázquez that opens the exhibition, The Venerable Mother Jerónima de la Fuente , is the portrait of a nun who was one of the staunchest defenders of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and one of the first to collect, during a trip that passed through Mexico, the testimony that recounted the miracle of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
“One of the successes was its ability to reproduce it. It was said that one of its miracles was that it couldn't be copied. Artists could send many images, in different sizes and formats. This reproducibility enabled the cult and its expansion,” explains Mues Orts. Of the works on display, the vast majority come from Spanish heritage, and only eight are from Mexico, because a large part of the Guadalupe legacy resides in this Spanish territory. An interesting chapter in So Far, So Close is the connection with Asia, as the myth of Guadalupe reached the Philippines in a significant way.
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