Attributed to Juan Correa and workshop, The Virgin of Valvanera, about 1710. Oil on canvas; 6 ft. 7½ in. × 57⅝ in. Gift of the Collection of Frederick and Jan Mayer, 2008.832

frame height: 91 1/2 in, 232.41 cm; frame width: 67 1/2 in, 171.45 cm; frame depth: 3 1/4 in, 8.255 cm; image height: 79 1/2 in, 201.93 cm; image width: 57 5/8 in, 146.3675 cm

Inscribed in lower left corner (flaking from canvas)

Mayer Center, Latin American Art

Latin American Art

This Mexican colonial painting is a portrait of a specific statue of the Virgin from the Rioja province of northern Spain. Spanish families often continued their regional homeland devotions when they came to the Americas. The legend of the original statue in Spain is seen in the painting. The statue was hidden in a tree during one of the Muslim invasions of the area. Years later, reformed bandits were instructed by an angel how to find the Virgin in a tree with a spring at its roots and a beehive in its trunk. When they approached the tree it miraculously opened to reveal the statue inside. A church and later a monastery were founded and can be seen in the lower section of the painting.  
     The depiction of abundantly flowing water, elongated forms and spiky church spires in this painting of the Virgin of Valvanera are particularly reminiscent of "The Deluge" by Cristóbal de Villalpando (ca. 1649-1714) in the Cathedral of Puebla in Mexico. Villalpando is considered the most accomplished artist of the colonial period in Mexico as well as a pioneer in developing a painting style decidedly divergent from European traditions and unique to Mexico.  Although compositions are based in part on European engravings, Villalpando and his followers moved beyond the European tradition by tightening the focus of the composition and moving it to the front of the picture plane, creating a shallow space for the action. They also retained many traits from Mannerism, long out of favor in Europe, such as contrived body and hand positions with elongated limbs as well as diaphanous and surreal textile colors.
-- Donna Pierce & Julie Wilson Frick, 2015

Private collection, CA by 1997; (Butterfield & Butterfield), San Francisco, lot #1870, June 10, 1997. (Robert Morris Gallery), San Francisco, CA; Purchased by Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO, February 11, 1999; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, December 2008 [1] [1] On loan to the Denver Art Museum, since 1999

• "Revealing a Mexican Masterpiece: The Virgin of Valvanera"- DAM, Sept. 24, 2017–Jan. 21, 2018
• “ReVision: Art in the Americas” — Denver Art Museum, 10/24/2021 – 7/17/2022
• ReVision: Art in the Americas, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN, 7/1/23 - 9/17/23