Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Exploring Colonial Mexico©
Homepage | Mission of the Month | Archive | Publications | Ordering El barroco poblano: a series
Nuestra Señora de La Luz
Located south of the colonial city limits of Puebla, on the old Camino Real, the tiled church of The Virgin of Light * was founded in 1761 in an attempt to reconcile two ethnically distinct barrios and help keep the peace among the contentious inhabitants along this important trade route into the city.
Completed at the end of the colonial era, in 1818, the broad church front features a façade sculpted from the dark local stone. This severe baroque composition however is flanked by towers and intervening expanses of colorful diaperwork in contrasting red ladrillo and blue azulejo tiles. (The richness and variety of the decorative tile may be explained by the fact that in colonial times this was a favored potter's district. )Four large, tiled, polychrome panels with decorative blue frames are inset into the towers. The principal panel, on the left side, portrays the Virgin of Light, posed with her traditional attributes: crowned, girdled with jewels and holding the child Jesus. On her left an angel kneels to present a basket of flaming hearts, and on her right the Virgin saves a youthful sinner from the fearsome jaws of Hell. An inscription reads: Madre Santissima de la Luz.
The other tiled panels depict St. Joseph, and her parents Sts Joachim and Anne, all wearing windblown robes in the baroque fashion and richly colored in blue, green and yellow talavera tile. St. Joseph on the opposite tower strikes a similar pose to that of the Virgin and is captioned San José de la Luz, a rare, possibly unique, portrayal.
Between the windows of the inner pavilion, more tiled panels depict attributes of the Virgin in folkloric style. The visible Latin inscription on the towers below the belfries is from the Trisagion prayer: Sanctus Deus, Sanctus fortis, Sanctus immortalis, miserere nobis. (Holy God! Holy Strong One! Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.)
Left front
St. Joseph panel
Right front * History and iconography of the cult of the Virgin of Light
In the first quarter of the 18th century, a Jesuit priest in Palermo, Sicily, wished to have a special representation of the Virgin Mary painted to take with him and display as he preached throughout the island. He consulted a devout lady who had the reputation of experiencing frequent visitations from the Virgin Mary, and asked her for guidance.
This was granted, and in her dream, the Virgin described exactly how she wished to be represented: to appear in a glorious light, surrounded by a troop of seraphims. She would wear an imperial crown and a girdle adorned with jewels that "surpassed the beauty of the stars." On her shoulders was a blue mantle, and on her left arm she carried the child Jesus. With her right hand she lifted a sinful soul from the throat of Hell, and on the other side a kneeling angel held up a basket filled with hearts which he presented to the Divine Child. She then said she wished to be called by the name of Most Holy Mother of Light and repeated it three times and said not to forget that.
The eventual painting, painted in 1722, was brought to Mexico ten years later and found a permanent home in the Jesuit church in León (Guanajuato) now the cathedral. The devotion soon became extremely popular, being spread first by the Jesuits but then going well beyond their circle. Confraternities in her honor was organized throughout Mexico.
The cult reached its peak in the 1750s and early 1760s. However, with the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, the cult lost its impetus among the elite, although popular devotion remained strong. Objections to the spread of the devotion arose and there were attempts to suppress it and even prohibit use of her title. (One objection was that it appeared to indicate that one could receive salvation directly from the Virgin rather than she being a mediator with Christ) *
