The Pueblo Revolt and The Virgin of Macana

         To start off with the background of The Virgin of Macana, it was created in the 18th century which was 1680. In the painting, Mary is a statue, she is bleeding from the forehead. She is wearing a crown and is holding a Macana, which is a wooden weapon embedded with obsidian blades commonly used by the Nahua people of central Mexico. 

Unknown artist, The Virgin of the Macana, second half of the 18th century, oil on canvas (History Collections New Mexico History Museum 2012.32.1)
The Virgin of the Macana, second half of the 18th century, oil on canvas (History Collections New Mexico History Museum) 

       The Virgin of Macana is telling a story of the fight of the Spaniards and the Puebloians, during the Pueblo revolution in 1680. In the middle right side of the painting it shows the natives attacking the statue, I believe is historically in accurate because historians have questioned, "why are the pueblo people shown as violent, barbaric aggressors in the painting?" This shows that it is biased towards the Spaniards. The painting is intended to convey that it is one-sided because of the questions asked about the paintings, which are, "why did the Pueblo Los rise against the Spaniards? Why are the pueblo people shown as violent, barbaric aggressors in the painting? Whose version of events do we see here?" This shows how it is conveyed to be about the Spaniards in the Pueblo revolt. In the painting they are trying to convey that they are rising against due to the shared sense of regional pride and unity developed as a strategy to keep Spanish people away from their land. It clearly communicate these messages because of the rabbit, crazy, attacking natives, against the Spanish who are just fighting back because of their invasion. I believe the purpose was to show that the natives were "crazy" and to have people in the future side with the Spanish.

Dr. Emmanuel Ortega, "The Virgin of the Macana and the Pueblo Revolution of 1680," in Smarthistory, October 16, 2020, accessed March 24, 2021, https://smarthistory.org/virgin-macana/.  

Comments

  1. CaytonWagnerMarch 25, 2021 at 1:02 PM

    I would like to see more about the Virgin Marry here, why she was important, why she was modified to be bleeding from the head and in the presence of a violent weapon. Those elements of her story tie into the events happening around her. Your explanation of from what perspective the narrative is being told is flawless. It is important to understand which side is conveying a message in paintings like these were there is obviously sides shown.

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  2. SophiaMarch 28, 2021 at 1:33 PM

    I liked the way in which you started out your piece. The intro was very informative. What I would have wished you applied more of was details specific to the painting. I would have liked to have heard more about what is physically happening and what the purpose of the virgin Mary plays in the painting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brance AndersonApril 9, 2021 at 2:37 PM

    I liked the explanation you gave a about this painting and the questions that this piece of work brings to the surface. One thing that I would like to see in this post is answers to more of the questions in the prompt. I think answering these questions will help bring this all together and help the readers understand more about this art style as well as this art piece specifically.

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