What we like about this picture, besides it being beautiful, is that it treats Juan Diego as a real person, which he was. Juan Diego was born in 1474 in Cuautitlán, Mexico, and was one of the first people to convert to Christianity in the area. He was baptized at age 50 by Franciscan missionary Friar Peter da Gand. He was also the first indigienous Saint of the Americas when St. John Paul II canonized him in 2002. (sources: www.nationalshrine.org and elsewhere.)

Juan Diego had a great love of the Blessed Mother, and she appeared to him. He told this to his bishop, the skeptical Bishop Juan de Zumárraga, who asked for proof. Juan Diego asked Mary for proof to bring to the Bishop, and she provided a rose bush blooming in winter. He gathered the roses and brought them back to the Bishop, carrying them in his tilma. When he opened up the tilma in the Bishop's office, the roses fell out. But what astonished the bishop was the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the tilma.

Millions of indigneous people converted. Millions still make the pilgrimage to Mexico City annually to see the tilma. It is made of local plant fibers, and has unexpectedly survived all these years in good shape.

The artist of this picture was José de Ibarra (1685–1756), a Mexican painter born in San Miguel del Grande, Mexico. He was Afro-Mexican but considered a Spaniard. He was proliofic, doing mostly religous subjects, and his art can be found in museums and churches all over Mexico. (source: peytonwright.com)

** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a blank border around the image. Approximately 0.5" wide for 5x7, 1.3" for 8.5x11, 1.6" for 11x14, and 1.75" for 13x17 and 16x20. For the two poster sizes, 18x24 and 24x36, we use 0.5" borders. We do this because the ratio of the rectangle of the art almost never matches the rectangle of the paper, and if it did happen to match one size, it would not match the others. Most fine art printers do this because otherwise they’d have to crop the art or warp it to make it fit the paper. The border looks good. It gives the picture a faux matted appearance.

There is almost always a little more border either on the left-right sides, or the top-bottom, depending on whether the ratio of the art is wider or taller than the paper.

We make Archival Quality fine art prints:

– Acid-free paper

– Archival pigments

– Cardboard backer for sizes 11x14 and less.

– Above story of the art

– Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal-clear bag.

– Rated to last 200 years without fading if kept dry and out of the direct sun.

Thanks for your interest!

JMJ

Sue & John

Lincoln, Nebraska

You might also enjoy original Catholic Art and Jewelry by me, Sue Kouma Johnson, here on Etsy at www.Etsy.com/shop/TreeOfHeaven

Also, check out our Catholic Quote shop, where we are pairing authentic quotes from Saints with Art: www.Etsy.com/shop/CatholicQuote

“In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art.”

~ St. Pope John Paul II

Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and any image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson – Classic Catholic Art.