The Virgin of Guadalupe with the Four Apparitions, 1773
The Virgin of Guadalupe with the Four Apparitions, 1773
Artist: Nicolás Enríquez (Mexican, 1704–1790)
Date: 1773
Medium: Oil on copper
Dimensions: 22 1/4 × 16 1/2 in. (56.5 × 41.9 cm)
Culture: Mexican, New Spain
Current Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Status: Public Domain
A Sacred Image and the Story of a Miracle
Painted in 1773 by the distinguished Mexican artist Nicolás Enríquez, The Virgin of Guadalupe with the Four Apparitions is both a devotional image of extraordinary beauty and a visual telling of one of the most beloved events in Catholic tradition.
At the center stands Our Lady of Guadalupe, surrounded by a radiant golden mandorla and supported by the angel beneath her feet. Her hands are gently folded in prayer, her head bowed with serene humility, while the stars scattered across her mantle and the rays surrounding her transform the image into a vision of heavenly light.
Around this central image, Enríquez placed four smaller narrative scenes recounting the miraculous events associated with Saint Juan Diego and the apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Tepeyac in 1531. The scenes culminate in the extraordinary moment when Juan Diego opens his tilma before Bishop Juan de Zumárraga and the image of Our Lady is revealed upon the cloth.
The Four Apparitions
The surrounding scenes transform the painting into something more than a portrait of the Virgin. They allow the viewer to enter into the story itself—from Juan Diego's encounters with Mary at Tepeyac to the miraculous sign that confirmed her message.
The roses gathered at Mary's direction, blooming in the winter season, became the sign Juan Diego was to carry to the bishop. When his tilma was opened and the flowers fell before him, the sacred image of the Virgin was revealed upon the garment.
Enríquez therefore presents the miracle and its history together: the magnificent central Virgin is the image that resulted from the events depicted around her.
Nicolás Enríquez and the Art of New Spain
Nicolás Enríquez was an accomplished eighteenth-century painter working in Mexico during the period of New Spain. He became particularly admired for finely executed religious paintings, including works created on copper.
Copper provided an exceptionally smooth surface upon which an artist could achieve luminous color, delicate detail, and jewel-like refinement. In this work, that quality is especially suited to the celestial radiance surrounding the Virgin and the intricate ornamentation of her mantle.
By 1773, when Enríquez created this painting, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe had become one of the most widely venerated sacred images in New Spain.
An Extraordinary Connection to the Original Image
There is a particularly remarkable detail in the history of this painting.
An inscription on the work records that in 1789—sixteen years after Enríquez painted it—it was sanctified through contact with the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This practice gave devotional copies an especially intimate association with the revered original preserved in Mexico.
That history gives this already magnificent work an additional dimension: it was not created merely as religious decoration, but as an object intended for devotion.
A Masterpiece of Faith and Beauty
The Virgin of Guadalupe with the Four Apparitions unites sacred history, artistic refinement, and profound Marian devotion.
The magnificent central figure draws the eye immediately toward Mary, while the surrounding scenes quietly tell the story of how her image came to be revealed. The result is an artwork meant not simply to be observed, but contemplated.
More than 250 years after Nicolás Enríquez painted it, the work retains the intimacy of a devotional image while also standing as an exceptional example of eighteenth-century Mexican sacred art.
From My Collection
There are certain works of sacred art that seem to reach across the centuries and speak to us with the same beauty and tenderness they possessed when they were first created. This is one of those works for me.
I was deeply moved by the beauty of Enríquez's Virgin of Guadalupe with the Four Apparitions—by the radiant image of Our Lady at its center, but also by the extraordinary story unfolding around her. It is at once magnificent and intimate: a work of art that invites us not merely to look, but to linger, contemplate, and remember the faith and devotion that inspired its creation.
That feeling is at the heart of why I created MasterpieceLiving.Shop. I believe beauty this magnificent should not remain hidden away in museum archives or seen only occasionally in a gallery. These great works have survived for centuries because they still have something to give us.
I want to bring their beauty out into the world again—to allow these masterpieces to become part of the things we live with, wear, give, and treasure in our everyday lives.
Because art this beautiful deserves to be seen. It deserves to be remembered. And it deserves to be lived with.
Barbara Ann
Owner & Designer
MasterpieceLiving.Shop
View the Original Masterpiece
The original Virgin of Guadalupe with the Four Apparitions is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and is currently listed by the museum as on view at The Met Fifth Avenue, Gallery 626. The Met designates the artwork's image as Public Domain.