By Anne Constable | The New Mexican. Posted Friday, September 10, 2010
This article is syndicated from the New Mexican, click here for the original article.THis
Historian Fray Angélico Chávez (1910-1996) dresses La Conquistadora in a 1952 photo by Laura Gilpin. Fray Angélico is credited with reviving interest in this form of devotion to the Virgin Mary. - ©1979 Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
The best-dressed woman in Santa Fe is not a real person, but a 30-inch wooden statue first brought here in 1626 on an ox cart.
La Conquistadora, also known as Our Lady of Peace, has a lavish wardrobe of more than 200 outfits and ceremonial capes. Some of the pieces are encrusted with family jewels and made of luxurious fabrics such as satin and silk, the vast majority of which date from the 1950s or later. Virtually all have a story behind them and were given with a specific intention — in honor of a loved one, in thanks for a prayer answered, in simple devotion to the Virgin Mary whom she represents.
Today an exhibit of 30 of the costumes, as well as a selection of her crowns and jewelry, will open for public viewing at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art on Museum Hill.
At the official opening Sept. 19, 2010 exhibit visitors will also be able to see the papal crown, or Corona Grande, given to her in 1960 at her Papal Coronation. The gold crown is valued at $65,000. But it’s not necessarily the most expensive piece in her closet. La Conquistadora also has a $100,000 cross encrusted with diamonds, sapphires and an emerald given to her by an unknown donor in 1960.
Curator Robin Farwell Gavin and Terry Garcia, sacristan of the cofradía that cares for the beloved statue, made the selections for the museum exhibit from her wardrobe, which is stored at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, where La Conquistadora has her own chapel.
Gavin credits Jaima Chevalier with the idea for Threads of Devotion. Chevalier’s book, She Came from Beyond: Unveiling the Mysteries of La Conquistadora’s Legendary Reign in Santa Fe will be published this year by Sunstone Press.
According to Gavin, Chevalier felt that a half-day showing of some of the outfits at the cathedral last July simply didn’t satisfy public demand and suggested an exhibit at the museum.
Gavin said that in addition to Garcia, whose job includes changing La Conquistadora’s outfits at least once a month — and daily during the novena in June — she worked with two others on mounting the show: Paul Valdez, a tailor who has made more than 28 outfits for the statue and recently took over his grandmother’s bridal shop; and Julia Gómez, a colcha artist who won Best of Show at this year’s Spanish Market. The cofradía provided the wooden stands which were wrapped in foam and muslin to cushion the outfits. Some of the costumes are also stuffed with acid-free paper to show off the workmanship. A mirror behind the main exhibit allows visitors to see the detailing on the backs of the capes and dresses.
Bill Field applies a label with information about the five crowns that are part of the exhibit of the wardrobe of La Conquistadora at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art. - Clyde Mueller/The New Mexican
Dressing religious figures is a tradition in the Roman Catholic Church dating back to before the 16th century, Gavin said. The church promoted private ownership of such images for educational and devotional reasons. Many of them had finely carved heads, but unfinished torsos and legs that would be covered with elaborate clothes and jewels.
The religious confraternity associated with La Conquistadora dates to 1685. Membership has fluctuated over the centuries, but today there are about 1,000 active members who pay $5 in annual dues. Historian Fray Angélico Chávez (1910-1996) is credited with reviving interest in this form of devotion to the Virgin Mary. After finding documents relating to La Conquistadora in the 1940s, “He took it on as his mission and brought it back to life,” Gavin said. He published a number of works on her including the 1975 book, La Conquistadora: The Autobiography of an Ancient Statue.
Among the pieces on display in the new exhibit is a blue silk damask cape with yellow gold flowering and a light blue lining made by former sacristan Miguelita Hernández (and others) in 1954 and used for her Papal Coronation in 1960. For this occasion people donated filigree jewelry and wedding bands that were sewn onto the cape. Gavin said the faithful are continuing to make donations to embellish the cape.
In 1983, parishioners in El Valle de San Luis presented her with a wool cape, woven by National Heritage Fellow Eppie Archuleta (a member of an acclaimed weaving family) depicting the San Luis Mountains. It’s also on display.
Other pieces in the show include: an outfit made from a late-19th-century ceremonial cape worn by Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy; two Native American costumes; a dress made from Chinese silk brocade purchased in China in 2009 and sewn by Siiri Sánchez, the sacristan for the cathedral; a garment made from two Indian saris, one peacock blue, the other plum; a Spanish Market dress by Gómez, who wove the sabanilla wool background and embroidered the flowers; the Lady Jane Grey, a gift by actress Ali MacGraw and made by Valdez using silk brocade, organza, faux Austrian crystals and pearls and accented by two Scottie dog buttons; a blue Fiesta dress trimmed in rick-rack; a ruchéd white satin outfit made from the wedding gown of the mother of longtime mayordomo of the cofradía, Pedro Ribera-Ortega; a cape of metallic brocade cloth bought by Fray Angélico in Germany with his family coat of arms woven into the fabric; another cape made from a uniform worn by Fray Angélico when he served as a military chaplain in World War II and the Korean War; and a simple cotton dress with a stamped design given by Nelda Martinez in honor of the 1976 ordination to the priesthood of her son, Msgr. Jerome Martinez y Alire, rector of the cathedral.
A silver plate hair comb - Clyde Mueller/The New Mexican
The jewelry in the show includes a filigree crown made in Juárez in the 1950s; two necklaces, a pin and earrings given by Mela Ortiz y Pino de Martin and her sister, Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven; and a gold-plated rosary, a gift of Fray Angélico in the 1950s.
La Conquistadora even has a hand-me-down, bought for her in Guatemala by Sylvanus Morley, an archaeologist and former director of the School of American Research and the Museum of New Mexico. Morely was working on Mayan ruins in the 1930s and 1940s, and after an earthquake destroyed a convent there he purchased a silk and metallic damask dress belonging to a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe. It fit La Conquistadora perfectly and is in the exhibit opening today.
The history of many of the pieces in her wardrobe is spotty, Gavin said, adding, “I’m hoping that people who come (to the show) will help us update the records.”
Although the statue has had many names, she’s always been called La Conquistadora, a name that refers to the settlement and resettlement of New Mexico.
In her autobiography, Chávez raised and answered the question, “How … can my pretty role as a Conquering Lady be reconciled with conquests and reconquests that speak of blood and carnage?”
“The answer is simple,” he wrote. “My peculiar Spanish title has nothing to do with battles as such, much less with bloody assaults of human beings upon one another. What La Conquistadora means is that I came with the first settlers who called themselves conquistadores, and who from the start took my little wooden self as a symbol of the heavenly as they saw it. And so the historic events that I witnessed, both in 1680 and in 1693 are being remembered as periods of survival and reconciliation.”
Today, Gavin said, followers focus on the alternate meaning of the Spanish word “conquistar” — winning of one’s affections — and to them, “She represents the Virgin Mary who is a symbol of motherly love and brotherhood.”
IF YOU GO
What: Threads of Devotion: The Wardrobe of La Conquistadora
When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, from today through Dec. 31, 2010
Where: Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, Museum Hill, 750 Camino Lejo
Who: Spanish Colonial Arts Society
Cost: One-day pass: $6 ($3 for N.M. residents); free Sunday to New Mexico residents
The Confraternity of La Conquistadora
The purpose of the Confraternity of La Conquistadora, which dates from at least the 1650s, is to promote devotion to this image of Mary and to care for her chapels (one at Rosario Chapel and one at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi) as well as her clothes and jewels.
The cofradia has five officers: mayordomo, assistant mayordomo, secretary, treasurer and sacristan, the person who changes her clothing.
In 1956, the Caballeros de Vargas became the official honor guard. They accompany the statue during Masses, processions and other events.
Membership in the cofradia has varied over the centuries. Today there are some 1,000 active members who pay dues of $5. The dues were not always paid in cash. In 1785, Manuel Ribera and his wife, Josefa Labadía provided music for feasts and processions in place of dues.
