Carolo Saraceni's "Our Lady of Loreto" and Peruvian Viceregal Statue Paintings

Mistaken identities make for excellent storytelling, and at the heart of this exhibition at NOMA is the story of a painting misidentified. When the work, depicting the Virgin Mary in ornate dressing, was acquired by NOMA in 1970—its documents called it "Our Lady of Lima," an example of art from the Viceroyalty of Peru. It went on to travel the world and be displayed in international museums as a work of Spanish Viceregal art. 

In 2014, though, an art historian came across a copy of the work in the sacristy of the Church of San Bernardo alle Terme in Rome, signed by the Italian baroque artist Carlo Saraceni and titled, "Our Lady of Loreto." 

Now, "Our Lady of Loreto" is exhibited under its true name at NOMA for the very first time, alongside other Spanish works that served as prototypes for Marian iconography by Indigenous and Mestizo artists in Viceregal Peru—which later inspired similar paintings in Europe and the Americas. noma.org.