Juan Diego: Mexican indigenous person to whom the Virgin of Guadalupe appears for the first time. Mexican Indian born around 1474 in Cuauhtitlán, an area of Texco influence, the Indian Juan was of Chichimenca origin and was baptized and educated in the Catholic faith by the Franciscans.
For much of my life, several times a year, I drive to Colorado via highway 285 which takes me through the small border town of Antonito. To the east, directly off the highway, just before I reach the turn which will take me to Antonito sits a small chapel, dedicated to Juan Diego and the Holy Family. And even though the sign says, in commercial lettering, "Welcome Open Day Or night" I have never gone in the chapel. However, I have stopped to photograph it and have used these photographs in numerous paintings I have done over the years. As I was developing this image, it became clear to me that these two ordinary male figures with their bovine heads were a connection to times when animals and people were powerful magical beings. Here they welcome us into the mystery of the chapel for the man who 650 years ago made the miraculous acquaintance of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
(I discovered this blog link when I was researching the chapel which takes you in inside Oratorio de Juan Diego y La Sagrada Familia.)
