Antonio de Torres
Virgin of Guadalupe (Virgen de Guadalupe)circa 1720

On view:

Geffen Galleries, The Iberian World: From Spain to Spanish America

Oil painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe standing full-length in a gold mandorla, wearing a star-covered blue mantle, surrounded by a floral garland border with four narrative vignette scenes at the corners

Oil painting in an octagonal gold-bordered frame, surrounded by a floral border. A kneeling figure in white robes holds flowers at left, gazing upward at an apparition of a crowned woman in a blue starry mantle and rose-colored robe, surrounded by a mandorla with an angel below her feet. Landscape with hills and trees in the background.

Oil painting with gold-leafed octagonal frame and floral border. A crowned, haloed figure in blue mantle appears within a golden mandorla at upper right. At left, a kneeling man in white robes looks upward, accompanied by a winged angel in pink. Landscape with distant buildings below.

Oil painting set within an octagonal gold-bordered frame surrounded by a floral border. A kneeling figure in white robes gestures toward a standing man whose tilma displays an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in blue and gold. A third figure stands behind, near a red curtain and stone arch.

Oil painting with an octagonal gold-bordered central panel surrounded by a painted floral border on blue ground. Inside, a crowned apparition in blue mantle and rose robe, encircled by golden rays and a crescent moon, appears above a kneeling landscape. At right, a standing figure in white and brown robes gestures upward toward the vision.

Oil painting detail showing a dense horizontal band of roses and mixed blooms in white, pink, red, gold, and blue-gray tones, below a scalloped white cloud form and golden-orange sky with radiating gilt rays.

Oil painting, devotional image of a standing figure in a blue star-studded mantle with gold trim and a golden crown, hands clasped in prayer, set against radiating golden rays on an amber background with floral clouds at the upper corners.

Oil painting detail of a winged cherub with arms raised, supporting a flowing mauve and gold-trimmed mantle; the figure has multicolored feathered wings in red, blue, and orange against a radiant golden background.

Oil painting detail showing an oval cartouche with gold border containing a townscape with church facades, colonnades, small figures, and horse-drawn carts set against rolling hills; above, spread wings in orange and blue-gray tones are partially visible.

Detail of an oil painting showing a classical architectural facade with tall columns and an obelisk, small figures of pedestrians and a horse-drawn carriage along a promenade, in muted brown tones with crackled surface; a gilded frame border and cursive inscription are visible at the lower edge.

Artist or Maker: Antonio de Torres
Mexico, 1667-1731
Title: Virgin of Guadalupe (Virgen de Guadalupe)
Date Made: circa 1720
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Unframed: 81 1/2 × 55 1/8 in. (207 × 140 cm); framed: 89 × 62 1/2 × 2 1/2 in. (226 × 158.75 × 6.35 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Kelvin Davis through the 2014 Collectors Committee
Accession Number: M.2014.91
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Latin American Art
Curatorial Notes: Legend has it that in 1531, the Virgin appeared to the Indian Juan Diego and asked him to visit Bishop Juan de Zumárraga so he could build her a chapel at the hill of Tepeyac, north of Mexico City. At first, the bishop refused to believe Juan Diego, until he unfolded his cloak filled with extraordinary flowers, revealing the miraculously imprinted image of the Virgin. Although the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe goes back to the second half of the sixteenth century, her tradition was fixed a century later. In this version by Antonio de Torres, one of the best painters of the early eighteenth century in Mexico, the Virgin is depicted surrounded by four roundels illustrating her various apparitions to Juan Diego. The larger roundel at her feet depicts her new sanctuary (completed in 1709) at the hill of Tepeyac.

From exhibition Archive of the World, 2022 (for more information see the catalogue entry by JoAnna M. Reyes in the accompanying publication, cat. no. 9, pp. 61–64)
Provenance: María de Gracia López de Tejada, Carmona, Spain, c. 1850; by descent to multiple family members; Carteia Fine Arts, Madrid, 2013; LACMA, 2014.
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.
Ilona Katzew, “New Acquisition: Antonio de Torres, Virgin of Guadalupe,” Unframed, May 1, 2014, https://unframed.lacma.org/2014/05/01/new-acquisition-antonio-de-torres-virgin-of-guadalupe.
Selected Exhibition History: 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. 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. October 20, 2023 - January 28, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024
Archive of the World: Art and Imagination in Spanish America, 1500–1800. June 22, 2024 - September 08, 2024

Monday	11 am–6 pm
Tuesday	11 am–6 pm
Wednesday	Closed
Thursday	11 am–6 pm
Friday	11 am–8 pm
Saturday	10 am–7 pm
Sunday	10 am–7 pm