Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
Beginning around 1668, Spanish colonizers in Venezuela wrote stories about a sculpture of the Virgin Mary found floating in the ocean. Some said that she protected sailors from pirates, others described how she led a lost ship safely to shore. Venerated for miraculous acts of guidance, the sculpture was placed in a church in Caracas, dressed in richly embroidered clothing, and adorned with jewels. Just as faithful people cared for the sculpture like a living being, artists painted her portrait. Here, the Venezuelan artist Juan Pedro López depicts the Virgin with life-like details— her fingers gently curl around a scepter and the Christ child, and her eyes seem to gaze directly into ours.
The Arts of Golden Age Spain and the Hispanic World 