Mina García Soormally, an assistant professor of Spanish, presented a paper at Duke University in the “Image and Illusion in Early Modern Spain” symposium on Oct 2-3, 2008.
The symposium was part of the events organized around the exhibition “El Greco to Velázquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III” at the Nasher Museum of Arts at Duke University. More than 100 paintings, sculptures and decorative arts are on view, including seven works by El Greco, three by Velázquez, two by Jusepe de Ribera and one large work by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, painted during his 1603 diplomatic mission to Spain.
Garcia Soormally’s paper, “The Image of a Miracle: The Virgin of Guadalupe and the Context of the Apparitions,” reflects on the use of the image of the Virgin in the process of conquest and colonization of New Spain. In it, she explores the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe or, more accurately, the handling of her supposed apparitions to Juan Diego by the Zumárraga administration.
She also contrasts the first treatment of the apparition with the actions of the archbishop to follow, Montúfa, especially focusing on the progression of the icon from idolatry to symbol of national identity.
The symposium was sponsored by the Department of Romance Studies at Duke University, the Nasher Museum of Art, and Duke in Madrid.