The Virgin of Guadalupe first became a special guardian (patron) of Mexico City following a devastating epidemic in the valley of Mexico. Jose de Ibarra (1685-1756) painted Our Lady floating over the Valley of Mexico in 1739.

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe featured in Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Painted in Mexico” exhibit

In 1754 the pope officially became a sponsor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. An unknown artist painted this “Allegory of the Patronage of the Virgin of Guadalupe over New Spain, 1781.” The painting cites Psalm 147:20: “”He [God] has not done the like for any other nation.”

Podcast on Our Lady of Guadalupe by Franciscan Media