Artwork

Our Lady of Valvanera

Our Lady of Valvanera is an oil painting. It dates from 1770 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

Created in Cusco in 1770, this oil painting on canvas incorporates gold leaf to depict the Madonna and Child. The iconography uniquely includes a bird alongside the holy figures and a male attendant, distinguishing it from standard Marian representations. These specific visual elements constitute the primary subject matter of the work held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Technique & Style

Our Lady of Valvanera is an oil painting executed on canvas, with the application of gold leaf as an additional material element.

Our Lady of Valvanera is an oil painting executed on canvas, with the application of gold leaf as an additional material element. The work was produced in 1770 in Cusco, situating it within the late colonial viceregal painting tradition of the Andes, where the combination of oil on canvas with gilded passages was characteristic of devotional images. The composition centers on the Madonna and Child, accompanied by a man and a bird, and the use of gold leaf would have lent luminosity to sacred attributes and ornamental detailing typical of Cuzqueño workshop practice.

The painting is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, classified as a painting.

History & Provenance

The painting known as Our Lady of Valvanera was created in the Cusco region in 1770. Executed in oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, the work depicts the Madonna and Child accompanied by a man and a bird. The artist remains unidentified in historical records.

The piece entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2018, where it is currently held under the accession number 2018.652.3.

Our Lady of Valvanera is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The work, created in Cusco in 1770, is cataloged under the accession number 2018.652.3 and described as an oil painting on canvas incorporating gold leaf. The provided sources do not contain information regarding specific exhibitions where this piece has been displayed.

Overview

This oil painting, titled Our Lady of Valvanera, depicts a central religious scene. It features a crowned woman holding a child, positioned before a dark drapery. Surrounding them are elements of nature, including birds in trees, and a kneeling figure.

The background extends into a serene landscape, encompassing architectural structures and distant mountains under a soft illumination, establishing a devotional yet expansive setting.