Above: Detail of an outdoor sculpture by Javier Marin (1962-) on a plaza in Zapopan.
When the sculpture opens its eyes, it already has a soul.”
Sculptor Javier Marin
Arriving barefoot in what was then a village outside of Guadalajara, Spanish-born Fray Antonio de Segovia (1485-1570) bore a doll-size figure of the Virgin Mary around his neck. This effigy was believed to protect him on his journeys thoughout the Tonallan Kingdom as he sought to convert the Native Americans under the rule of Queen Cihualpilli Tzapotzinco. The queen herself was among his converts, and Fray Antonio established an abbey and presented the converts of this village with the statuette he had worn for ten years.
The statue was made by Purépecha Indians in Pátzcuaro using traditional methods. First, a skeleton was constructed out of sugar canes and cornstalks. Then, a special paste or dough called tatzingueni was applied to flesh out the figure. This tatzingueni was made of corn stalk pulp and the juice of a local orchid which gave the paste a latex quality and would prevent the finished product from rotting or spoiling.”
“The Virgin of Zapopan,” Robert Bitto, Mexico Unexplained
Continue reading “Postcard from Guadalajara, Mexico: La Zaponita worked miracles; others prophesized doom”
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