From Dave Bartholomae, Theorist and Scholar of Composition Studies
and Joyce Bartholomae, Professor (and Lover) of (Anything) Spanish
This first of these images comes from a small church in Banos, a mountain town. The story we heard is that these were originally painted on the walls by different artists, then in the 30s some hired a painter to copy / replace them all in a single size and style. You’ll see that the miracles feature bridge building, volcanoes and floods.
This second series comes from the Basilica de la Merced. The Mercedarios was the order that had the power during the period of independence. Unfortunately, the photos don’t show the captions—all very short.
They tell the stories of appearances of the Virgin, all at key moments in the history of Ecuador—from the conquistadores, to the founding of the city, to independence and during periods of epidemic, volcanoes and earthquakes. These were also from the 30s.
– Dave and Joyce Bartholomae