Details
The image is painted on a wooden canvas. The woman in the painting, the Virgin Mary, is medium sized and has a tan and venerable face, lose hair, rays around the head, and content eyes gazing upon the child in swaddling clothes. She has one of her breasts uncovered, with small drops of milk falling towards the child's lips. The child reclines in his mother's arms, reciprocating the gaze of the mother. The Virgin Mary is wearing a blue blouse (not black) and a dark red or crimson mantle. Behind her, there is a dark grove of trees that looks like a mountain; this landscape represents her escape to Egypt. The painting arrived at a Dominican convent between 1511 and 1522. It measures 37.2 cm by 65 cm.
According to tradition, during the English invasions of 1598 and Dutch invasions of 1625, the painting was hidden and later found. In 1714 it was hung in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (Cathedral of San Juan Bautista).
During the siege of Abercromby (1797), the bishop gave orders to Zengotita that daily public prayer would be held in parishes of the city. The participants, mainly women, sang songs and litanies and carried candles or torches in their hands. The painting of Our Lady of Bethlehem was carried through the city to ask God for help. Legend has it that the invading army saw men with torches. Frightened by such an imposing sight, they decided to withdraw and not attack the city. Thus, the protection of the city was attributed to Our Lady of Bethlehem, whom the town considered the "protectora de la ciudad," or "Guardian of the City." Today in the Caleta de San Juan, next to the ancient wall and facing the bay of San Juan, there is an imposing sculpture called "La Rogativa" or "The Public Petition," which commemorates this chapter in the history of Puerto Rico.
Out of his personal devotion and devotion to the people of San Juan, the Puerto Rican painter José Campeche reproduced the painting many times. Some of the reproductions of the original Our Lady of Bethlehem are in Galería Nacional del Viejo San Juan and the Museo de la Universidad de Puerto Rico in Río Piedras. Juan Alejo de Arizmendi was the first Puerto Rican bishop to call for devotion to the painting. In 1806 he granted forty days of indulgence to those who say a Hail Mary in front of image, praying to God for the purposes of the Church. The original Our Lady of Bethlehem later went to the San José Church of Old San Juan (the old St. Thomas Church of the Dominicans). It remained there until it disappeared in 1972.
Read more about this topic: Our Lady Of Bethlehem
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