Nuestra Señora La Reina Del Cielo (Our Lady Queen of Heaven)

Horacio Valdez, Nuestra Señora La Reina Del Cielo (Our Lady Queen of Heaven), 1991, carved and painted wood with metal and silver crown, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.90
Copied Horacio Valdez, Nuestra Señora La Reina Del Cielo (Our Lady Queen of Heaven), 1991, carved and painted wood with metal and silver crown, 31 1⁄4 x 9 1⁄2 x 7 1⁄2 in. (79.4 x 24.1 x 19.1 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.90

Artwork Details

Title
Nuestra Señora La Reina Del Cielo (Our Lady Queen of Heaven)
Artist
Date
1991
Location
Dimensions
31 1⁄4 x 9 1⁄2 x 7 1⁄2 in. (79.4 x 24.1 x 19.1 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
carved and painted wood with metal and silver crown
Classifications
Keywords
  • Occupation — other — aristocrat
  • Religion — New Testament — Mary
Object Number
1997.124.90
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1997.124.90

Artwork Description

Horacio Valdez was one of the first contemporary santeros (carvers of wooden saints) to paint his figures using commercial paints. In this piece the crescent moon on the bottom of the Virgin Mary’s skirt evokes the biblical passage in which a woman appears in heaven at the end of the world, “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head” (Revelation 12:1). The feather represents an eagle wing, which was given to the woman so that she could fly away to escape the devil.