Viva Guadalupe! Book

Our Lady of Guadalupe, the famous image of Mary in a body halo, has transcended the bounds of religion and institution to become an iconic representation of the spirit that unifies and protects. It is her openness and sensitivity to the diversity of life that attract followers as far afield from the Spanish New World as India and Japan and makes her image equally at home on altars, embedded in folk art, or dangling from pop devotions of Christians and non-Christians alike.

Nowhere is the diversity and intensity of her followers more apparent than in the abundant ways in which they choose to honor and represent her: santos, churches, and shrines; on textiles, needlecrafts, T-shirts, and decals; on murals, gates, stained-glass windows, and mailboxes; car hoods and automotive gadgets; and in tattoos to keep her close to their skin as well as in their heart.

Viva Guadalupe! is a visual celebration of this powerful devotion and of the multifaceted images that artists, folk inventors, and everyday devotees create in the name of their Nuestra Senora. Featuring one hundred color photographs, this delightful new book is an apt tribute to the spirit of this popular folk saint.