Mexican Colonial

Luis Juarez

Mexico 1585-1636
The Marriage of the Virgin ( Los Desposorios de la Virgen) 95.0006

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According to the apocryphal Lives of the Virgin, Mary was raised in the Temple at Jerusalem, where she eventually grew to marriageable age, at which time the Temple priests chose a suitable husband for her. God's choice of Joseph was made manifest by a miracle in which his rod burst into flower and was visited by a heavenly dove. Mary and Joseph were married by the high priest, who is here garbed in the traditional attire derived from the garments of Aaron and his sons described in Exodus 28. The myriad eyes on the hem of the priest's undergarment symbolize the omniscience and omnipresence of God. The same eye of God placed in a triangle has been used since the Renaissance as a symbol of the Holy Trinity. Roses and lilies were flowers that were associated with Mary who was referred to as "the rose without thorns." Lilies have traditionally been associated with purity. Putti (cherubs) are showering the couple with both. God the Father blesses their union by embracing the couple (you can see God's hands descending from the cloud) and the Holy Spirit is present in the form of a dove. A pupil of Echave Orio, Juárez's work represents the Counter Reformation prosaic style in Mexico, often portraying ecstatic holy figures in an intimate, direct way. Juárez's artistic legacy was tremendously important, and includes the contributions of his son, José Juárez.

 

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