Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
June, 1996
21.15" x 11.5"
Retablos, Wood and watercolor
Region: Santa Fe, New Mexico
21.15" x 11.5"
Retablos, Wood and watercolor
Region: Santa Fe, New Mexico
titled lower left, signed and dated lower right
In December 1531, the Virgin appeared to an Indian neophyte, Juan Diego. In a series of appearances to him, she stated her desire to have a church built upon the site of her appearance, the hill of Tepeyac, just outside the Mexican capital. Her wishes were fulfilled when Juan Diego presented a cloak full of roses that she had given him for the unbelieving bishop. The cloak appeared miraculously imprinted with her image. This tilma is presently in the basilica of Guadalupe, where it has been since it was transferred in 1709 from earlier chapels, and is the basis for any subsequent reproduction of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe.
About the Artist
The daughter of prominent traditional tinwork artists, the late Senaida and Emilio Romero, Marie has created art for a number of churches in the United States and in Mexico, including Stations of the Cross for the Basilica of St. Francis in Santa Fe. She has participated in the annual Spanish Market in Santa Fe for over 45 years, having won many awards for both traditional and contemporary works.
As a writer, her early works focused on research-based books about the culture and churches of Northern New Mexico, along with a memoir about growing up in Santa Fe in the 1950s.
A number of years ago she began to write a mystery series based around Santa Fe featuring Jemimah Hodge, a forensic psychologist. A romantic novel about the Pueblo Revolt began as a screenplay over ten years ago when she was a student at Lesley College in Boston. Her most recent book is a novel rather than a mystery, "The Word Thief.” She is currently working on another memoir and a new screenplay.
Her works are in the following collections: the Museum of International Folk Art; the Albuquerque Museum; the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art; the Smithsonian Institute; the Vatican; the Archdiocese of Santa Fe; the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center; and many private collections.
