1992/12/01 by Jeanette Favrot Peterson · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Latin American history and culture #Colonialism, slavery, and trade #Latin American and Latino Studies #Art #Visual arts
paper · doi:10.1080/00043249.1992.10791596
openalex publication_date 1992/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Of the many images of the Virgin Immaculate venerated in Mexico, only the Virgin of Guadalupe has an overarching political significance. This essay will challenge two myths concerning her role as national emblem: first, that her cult spontaneously welded together all the strata of New Spain; and second, that Guadalupe from the sixteenth century on served as a symbol of freedom for the oppressed native populations. Instead, her meaning was reinterpreted for different ruling parties primarily in those times when existing sociopolitical institutions were being reconstituted.