erected on the site indicated by Mary, whither it was transferred in a solemn procession in 1582.
No more propitious event could have occurred. Divine interposition quickly accomplished that for which the servants of Christ had been so long striving. From that time idolatry rapidly declined in Mexico. Thousands annually visited the sanctuary and in bent adoration deposited their gifts.[1] In time a more appropriate repository for the sacred robe was wanted, and a chapel was built around the hallowed spring at which the virgin's form had waited.[2] And later still an imposing edifice, with lofty dome and columns supporting graceful arches, beneath which glittered silver altar-rails and ornaments of gold, received and held safe the venerated painting.[3]
In regard to the painting itself, we find the virgin represented as standing with the right foot on a crescent moon, supported by a cherub with wings outspread, and hands clasped upon her breast. A rose colored tunic richly embroidered with gold covers her form, and a girdle of velvet clasps her waist. The mantle, decorated with stars, partially covers the head, on which rests a crown with ten points, or rays.
- ↑ Bustamante avers that the Spaniards would not have allowed so many thousands to congregate at the shrine, had they not been aware of the peaceful purport of their assembling. Aparic. Guad., 51.
- ↑ The painting was removed there in 1662, according to Beaumont, Crón. Mich., iii. 440, and Villa Señor, Theat. Amer., i 16. But this date is obviously incorrect, as the removal took place in the time of Archbishop Serna who died in 1631. Consult Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, viii. 167-8.
- ↑ The cost of this magnificent church, probably the richest in Mexico, is estimated at from half a million to eight hundred thousand pesos. It was begun in 1695 and not fully completed till 1709. The high altar, according to Beaumont, cost 98,000 pesos, and the throne, or tabernacle in which the picture is enshrined, 52,119 pesos. Cron. Mich. iii. 441. Later authorities give a still higher estimate of this latter work of art. The painting was placed in the church on the 1st of May 1703, where it remained till 1836, when it was temporarily transferred to the convent of the Capuchins during the internal renovation of the edifice, being restored to its place in December of the same year. Magnificent donations have been made to this church. In 1707 Andrés Palencia left 100,000 pesos, and in 1747 the accumulated capital amounted to 527,832 pesos, yielding an income of 30,000 pesos. With this sum endowments were made for the support of an abbot, 10 canons, and other church officers. Villa Señor, Theat. Amer., i. 16; Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, viii. 168-74; Florencia, Estrella del Norte, 25-9; Beltrami, Mex., ii. 226-7.
