Amy G. Remensnyder, Brown University

Dr. Remensnyder's webpage: http://research.brown.edu/research/profile.php?id=10097

Dr. Remensnyder's presentation used a 1992 controversy in Santa Fe concerning an artwork depicting a sexualized Our Lady of Guadalupe as a means to discuss the history of the Virgin Mary as an image of military conquest and geological purity. During this controversy, a protester referred to Mary as La Conquistadora, the name of another controversial statue connected to Spanish colonialism. The Bishop of Santa Fe then stepped in by referring to La Conquistadora not as a military conqueror, but representing "conquering love." Dr. Remensnyder then went on to show the link to the medieval use of Mary as a patron of military victory, and went on to characterize this peaceful view of La Conquistadora as "wishful rewriting of the past." She also linked the use of Mary as a means to establish geological purity, either spiritual or literal.

Dr. Remensnyder concluded by showing a recent artwork depicting La Conquistadora as a Pueblo corn maiden, with hopes that this would signify the beginning of La Conquistadora standing as a symbol of peace between cultures.

Labels: 2008 Spring Lecture Series: Medieval New Mexico, Campus Events

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