Mexican Retablo Depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe

A tall, narrow figure in a star-patterned cloak inside a burst of golden rays

This Retablo depicting our lady of guadalupe is from Mexico, and dates to the 19th century. It is paint & tin. Retablos were first painted on wood, canvas and copper for churches, but cheap tin sheets in the nineteenth century made paintings of saints affordable across every class of society. A standing woman in a dark green-blue mantle with a red patterned gown and bowed head, enclosed by an oval of radiating gold lines. The ground is mottled tan with scuffs and stains along the edges. It is 13.25 inches wide and 17.5 high.

The rays do all the shouting and the figure stays quiet.