Maria is all beautiful
In the south nave of Merida Cathedral, next to the presbytery, hangs a huge oil painting depicting the Virgin in her advocation as the Immaculate Conception, surrounded by her celestial court. Its large size and artistic quality make this one of the most important examples of Colonial-era painting preserved in Yucatan.
According to bishop Crescencio Carrillo y Ancona, the painting originally belonged to the Great Monastery of St. Francis in Merida, which was founded in 1547 as the principal House of the Franciscan Order in Yucatan. In 1821, when the monastery was closed, the painting was moved to the church of the Assumption of Our Lady in Mejorada, where it remained practically forgotten for years, hanging on a landing of the main staircase in the cloister.
Subsequently, the picture was relocated to the old Bishop’s Palace, and then to the Cathedral. When this house of worship was attacked in 1915, the historic canvas was saved as it had been taken into safekeeping. Finally, it was returned to the Cathedral in the 1940s, when rebuilding work was carried out on the edifice.
Besides its artistic and symbolic value, the piece is also of historical importance. As the architect Raúl Alcalá Erosa points out, it is one of the few surviving physical reminders of the Monastery of St. Francis. This unique complex was built on a huge pyramidal Mayan base or mound which, over the years, was completely demolished.
The painting of the Immaculate Conception in the Cathedral is the work of the Spanish painter friar Miguel de Herrera, and was done in 1730. It is one of few Colonial-era paintings in the Cathedral that is signed and dated. The figure of Mary is in three-quarter profile in the center of the composition, wearing an imperial crown, a white tunic, and a flowing blue cloak. She is flanked by two celestial choirs, led by St. Dominic de Guzman and St. Francis of Assisi. Each choir contains three graceful angels holding banners which bear Latin inscriptions taken from the Marian hymn “Tota Pulchra es Maria” (Maria is all Beautiful), which was sung during the liturgical festival of the Immaculate Conception on the 8th December. In the next rank of the choirs, there are cherubs playing musical instruments similar to those used in cathedral and monastery choirs for the most important feasts of the year.
The painting of the Immaculate Conception can be viewed by any visitors to the Cathedral during normal opening times.
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