This fine and elaborate painting depicts Our Lady of Copacabana as part of an altarpiece.

The Virgin appears elegantly dressed, with a red cloak decorated with gilt brocade, chains made of the same noble material and pearls covering the lower half of her robe, along with ample sleeves of white lace. Both the Child and the Virgin wear crowns. The mandorla or arch is replaced architecturally by an oval-shaped alcove with alternating coffered panels and cherub heads. At the top of the oval, we observe an altarpiece crown from which votive candelabra are seen hanging. To the sides, two ornate Solomonic columns decorated with plant motifs entwined around them, while at the base of the columns we find the figures of St. Nicholas of Bari and St. Joseph and the Christ Child. The entire scene is decorated with
brocateado (brocade effect) or gilding.

The Marian title “Our Lady of Copacabana” was always closely linked to the traditions of the Americas, being one of the most frequentlydepicted images in the Viceroyalty. The Virgin’s shrine in what is now Bolivia was built on the shores of Lake Titicaca and is one of the most famous holy sites in Latin America. There, the indigenous native artist Francisco Tito Yupanqui attempted to sculpt an image of the Virgin for a brotherhood, but it was rejected for its lack of finesse, although it was finally accepted.

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