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Góngora, Jacinto de Evia and Quito's "Virgin of the Panecillo"

Abstract:

In artistic representations from the Quito baroque (such as Legarda's peculiar "apocalyptic virgin") there can be found pagan elements of the "woman warrior": always victorious, but in the end worshipful of the heroic, superhuman victor. Speed is a basic attribute of this prototype, as is extreme chastity: these women are always virginal y prefigure the Christian type of the Virgin. As they blend with other aspects of Christian tradition, they end up forming a fixed model in which the characteristic of the wings -a sign of unconceivable speed- is dominant, at first figurative but later decidedly physical and real. Evia's treatment of this new Eve presents these characteristics and justifies the appearance of an imaginative proces-sion in accordance with this group of metaphors. The "winged Virgin" of the Panecillo is, therefore, the physical expression of Evia's representation (derived from Góngora), a model that was inspired by contemporary literature.