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 procession 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.