Unidentified artist
Virgin of Bethlehem (Virgen de Belén)circa 1700-1720

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Oil painting of a crowned, elaborately robed female figure holding an infant, flanked by cherubs and red curtains, standing on a gold pedestal with floral urns below

Colonial-era oil painting in a gilded frame depicting a frontal devotional figure wearing a large bell-shaped red and gold brocade mantle and crown, holding a small child, flanked by two winged cherubs and red drapery, with floral arrangements and ornamental vases at the base.

Artist or Maker: Unidentified artist
Title: Virgin of Bethlehem (Virgen de Belén)
Place Made: Peru, Cuzco School
Date Made: circa 1700-1720
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Unframed: 64 3/8 × 41 1/8 in. (163.5 × 104.5 cm); framed: 71 × 47 1/4 × 3 1/2 in. (180.34 × 120.02 × 8.89 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Eunice and Douglas Goodan
Accession Number: M.2009.158
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: This work depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child as two cherubs pull the curtains open to display the holy image. It is an example of a statue painting—a representation of a religious sculpture on a church altar. The original statue, which still exists, is designed to be dressed and bejeweled and is known as an imagen vestidera. The use of brocateado (gold applications), a popular technique among Cuzco artists, enhances the painting’s sense of preciousness, while the depiction of various textiles—local and foreign—demonstrates the long-standing Andean interest in woven materials. Painted copies of miraculous images were believed to share the divine power of the original statue.

According to legend, King Charles V (r. 1516–56) sent the original effigy to Peru. It was discovered by a group of fishermen in a wood box floating in a lake near the town of San Miguel. Upon opening the container, they found a beautifully carved image of the Virgin Mary along with a note stating that she was a gift to the city of Cuzco. News of the miracle spread quickly as various churches vied to claim the statue for their sanctuary. It was granted to the Church of the Reyes Magos, which thereafter changed its name to Our Lady of Belén (the name inscribed on the note with which the image was found). According to legend, the Virgin soon began to perform all sorts of miracles, becoming one of the most revered sculptures of Cuzco and a star of the famous Corpus Christi procession.

Ilona Katzew

2024
Provenance: US Ambassador to Peru; Abell Auction Company, Commerce, California, mid-1990s; Eunice Erb Goodan and Douglas Goodan, Pasadena, California, mid-1990s; LACMA, 2009.
Selected Bibliography: Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.
Selected Exhibition History: Contested Visions in the Spanish Colonial World. November 6, 2011 - January 29, 2012
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

Related Exhibitions

Unidentified artist
Virgin of Bethlehem (Virgen de Belén)circa 1700-1720

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Artist or Maker: Unidentified artist
Title: Virgin of Bethlehem (Virgen de Belén)
Place Made: Peru, Cuzco School
Date Made: circa 1700-1720
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Unframed: 64 3/8 × 41 1/8 in. (163.5 × 104.5 cm); framed: 71 × 47 1/4 × 3 1/2 in. (180.34 × 120.02 × 8.89 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Eunice and Douglas Goodan
Accession Number: M.2009.158
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: This work depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child as two cherubs pull the curtains open to display the holy image. It is an example of a statue painting—a representation of a religious sculpture on a church altar. The original statue, which still exists, is designed to be dressed and bejeweled and is known as an imagen vestidera. The use of brocateado (gold applications), a popular technique among Cuzco artists, enhances the painting’s sense of preciousness, while the depiction of various textiles—local and foreign—demonstrates the long-standing Andean interest in woven materials. Painted copies of miraculous images were believed to share the divine power of the original statue.

According to legend, King Charles V (r. 1516–56) sent the original effigy to Peru. It was discovered by a group of fishermen in a wood box floating in a lake near the town of San Miguel. Upon opening the container, they found a beautifully carved image of the Virgin Mary along with a note stating that she was a gift to the city of Cuzco. News of the miracle spread quickly as various churches vied to claim the statue for their sanctuary. It was granted to the Church of the Reyes Magos, which thereafter changed its name to Our Lady of Belén (the name inscribed on the note with which the image was found). According to legend, the Virgin soon began to perform all sorts of miracles, becoming one of the most revered sculptures of Cuzco and a star of the famous Corpus Christi procession.

Ilona Katzew

2024
Provenance: US Ambassador to Peru; Abell Auction Company, Commerce, California, mid-1990s; Eunice Erb Goodan and Douglas Goodan, Pasadena, California, mid-1990s; LACMA, 2009.
Selected Bibliography: Katzew, Ilona, ed. Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800: Highlights from LACMA’s Collection. Exh. Cat. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: DelMonico Books/D.A.P., 2022.
Selected Exhibition History: Contested Visions in the Spanish Colonial World. November 6, 2011 - January 29, 2012
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 12, 2022 - October 30, 2022
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024