According to legend, on December 8, 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared to the newly Christianized Juan Diego on the Mexican hill of Tepeyacac. As proof of her divine visit, she miraculously imprinted her image upon his mantle. That image, known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, has become a symbol of national consciousness in Mexico and a talisman for Mexican Americans. Yet its notable features include obviously European artistic techniques. How is it that Renaissance styles are employed in a 16th century Mexican icon supposedly not made by human hands? Looking beyond the divine explanation for the Lady's existence, author John Moffitt uses historical and artistic detective work to determine the work's earthly origin. Originally published in Spanish, this volume provides an in-depth study of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It places the work within the context of art history as well as local contemporary events. The mundane origin of the painting is fully traced and investigated as well as the proliferation of the legend which led to the eventual canonization of Juan Diego as the first native Mexican saint. Appendices provide crucial related Spanish-language texts by Miguel Sanchez (1648) and Luis Laso de la Vega (1649, originally published in Nahuatl). Numerous illustrations are included.

Italian painter Caravaggio was recognized by his contemporaries as a dedicated practitioner of il naturalismo and a learned painter. His use of the chiaroscuro technique was skilled and his subject matter, still lifes and genre paintings, was unique. Through detailed analysis of works from Caravaggio's early Roman period, 1594-1602, this study places his art in a humanistic context, making it an expression of ""learned naturalism,"" a procedure committed to a close study of the phenomenal world and corresponding to contemporary ventures into empirical science. The work grounds Caravaggio's artistic techniques in cultural context and situates his subject matter within the interest of his patrons, influential Romans whose tastes reflected current Renaissance interests in humanistic studies, emblematic literature, and classical lore. The end result is to show an artist who was thoroughly grounded in the humanist milieu of his erudite patrons. Sources include writings addressing art's instructive purposes and the classical literary sources commonly manipulated in Caravaggio's time. The work is illustrated with Caravaggio's works as well as related images.