Experts have determined that an unidentified artist painted Nuestra Señora de la Antigua (Our Lady of La Antigua) sometime during the 17th or 18th century. The painting is found in the Blanton Museum and stands over six feet tall, making it the largest painting in the gallery. The artist depicts a scene of the Virgin Mary holding Christ, the child, surrounded by angels. The artist uses a mixture of color, dimensions, and composition to put an emphasis on the story that lies behind this piece of work. Dimensions refer to the different sizes of characters that are the focus of the painting or even the overall size of the painting. As mentioned before, the Nuestra Senora is the largest painting in the “Re-envisioning the Virgin Mary” gallery in the Blanton Museum. In order to really notice and appreciate the minute details in the Nuestra Senora, one needs to stand about 5 feet away from the painting. From this distance some details still appear diminutive but add a lot of character to the painting.
The characters themselves do not occupy the entire painting. The angels make up a small portion of the paining all together. Mary and Christ occupy the very middle and do not fill up the oval shape in the center. What occupy most of the space are darkness and the steps that are beneath Mary. Each character in their own has different dimensions. The shadows, light, and different hues produce an illusion of layering throughout the painting. The painting clearly shows the Virgin Mary holding the child by the way lines are created even though we cannot see that part of her. This painting is a colorful portrait of the Virgin Mary and Christ as a child. Behind the Mother and Child is an oval background of what seems to appear to be gold with brown squares. The Mother and Child are both wearing contrasting colors of red and blue. A light source is not clearly identifiable