ANONYMOUS (ANDEAN, 18TH CENTURY)

Saint Ildefonso was born (607-667) in Toledo, an important city and the seat of power in Visigothic Spain. Ildefonso received his early education from his uncle Eugenius who was Archbishop of Toledo and became a monk at an early age when he entered a small community near Toledo. The saint matured into a scholar and is considered an important theologian and author of the De virginatate perpetua sanctea Mariae in which he extoled the Virgin Mary’s purity and virginity and expressed his profound devotion for the Mother of God. Legends about his numerous good deeds and miracles spread after his death. The most important tale and the subject of this work, was the Virgin Mary’s apparition to present him with a chasuble—the liturgical vestment used during the celebration of Mass. The vestments, richly detailed in gold, illumine the entire composition denoting the sacredness of the moment and space. Angels aid in preparing the saint dress while a group of cherubim hold the golden mitre of his office and another angel holds his staff. Important to note is the inclusion of an angel at the lower right who is carefully reading the saint’s treatise on the Virgin.