Spanish Nativity

Spanish Colonial Work at the Denver Art Museum

I spent most of last week in Denver, where I finally had the chance to see the Denver Art Museum’s truly fine collection of Spanish Colonial Art.  It encompasses art from the 16th century through modern work done by “santeros” in New Mexico.  I didn’t see any Nativity figures, although there was certainly much statuary in general and some Nativity-themed paintings. The work comes from Mexico, Quito, Cuzco, and other great colonial cities famous for their workshops.  As we all know, the famous figures displayed every year at the monastery known as Las Carboneras in Madrid are from Quito, and Quito was particularly well-known for its carving and sculpture.

These two paintings depict the Adoration of the Shepherds. The upper work was painted in Mexico in the 17th century by Nicolás Rodríguez Juárez, and the second is an 18th century painting from Potosi, Bolivia, by Gaspar Miguel de Berrio. The collection is beautifully curated and displayed. You can get a glimpse of other things in their collection at the museum’s website.

I checked out Denver’s Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, located in downtown Denver not too far from the Statehouse. The building was completed in 1911 and consecrated in 1921 and has spectacular stained glass windows.  They were created in Munich, Germany by F.X. Zettler at the Royal Bavarian Art Institute, which was destroyed in the bombing during WW II.  I found a Nativity scene, but by far the most spectacular window was this one of the Immaculate Conception.

Eucharistic Niños

Today is the day on which the Feast of Corpus Christi is celebrated in the US (yes, it should have been last Thursday, and I hope that someday it will be restored to its proper day).  In honor of the feast, we had a procession and also an interesting exhibit on Eucharistic miracles. The exhibit is composed of a series of 140 large posters or panels, each one dedicated to a Eucharistic miracle. The photos are grouped geographically. Spain, of course, has a huge number of miracles, as does Italy.

 

I saw several that featured Niños, or the Virgin with the Child, in some connection with the Eucharist. The one I photographed is a miracle that occurred in Eten, Peru in 1649, when a friar and other people saw the Child Jesus and three brilliant white hearts (symbolizing the Trinity) appear on a Host that was in a monstrance for Adoration.  In addition, the Child was wearing a purple tunic of the type worn by the local Indians, to symbolize His love for them.

You can find out more about this exhibit, entitled The Eucharistic Miracles of the World, by going to the website of the company that markets it, Eternal Life.  Our exhibit was purchased by one of our priests and parishioners, and he displays it here and elsewhere in the diocese.

I have had an enormous amount of translation work lately and haven't had the time or energy to post, so I hope Spanish Nativity enthusiasts haven't given up and gone away!  I hope to be able to return to more frequent posting now.  In the meantime, one last image of a Latin American Niño...