Nuestra Señora by Jose Cisneros

The drawing by Jose Cisneros is called Nuestra Señora. It shows the Mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe, situated in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. It shows a missionary (probably Fray Garcia de San Francisco), a Manso Indian Boy and a soldier in front of the Mission. The mission was founded by Fray Garcia de San Francisco. He came from Spain to the New World in 1629 and established the mission in 1659, among the Manso Indians at the Pass of the North, a strategic location along the trade route El Camino Real. Three years later, a new church replaced the provisional oratory and 100 natives were baptized that day. After 12 years at the Pass, Fray Garcia returned to minister among the Piro Indians of Senecu Mission, near modern Socorro, New Mexico, until his death on January 22, 1673. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the oldest mission in the Mission Valley. To the travelers along the Camino Real it was an important stop for food and rest. During the 1680 Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico, over 2500 Spanish refugees and displaced Indians received food and shelter at the mission. Until 1692, the pass of the North was the most northern outpost in colonial Spain in the New World. The mission is solely constructed of adobe. Its architecture is marked by Spanish and Indian elements. It was restored several times. The illustrator and historian Jose Cisneros (1910-2009) was famous for pen-and-ink illustrations of Mexican, American and Spanish history. Stories of the United States-Mexico border and the Southwest burst alive with Cisneros' touch and meticulous attention to detail. His favorite subjects were pen-and-ink drawings of horses and Spanish horsemen. He is regarded as a legend for his sketches of Spanish conquistadores, Franciscan missionaries, frontier settlers and Apache warriors. For example, he drew Juan de Oñate and the historic missions San Elizario and Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (they can be viewed on the Digital Wall database as well).

Area: Out of Area / Ciudad Juarez

Source: C.L. Sonnichsen Special Collections, University of Texas at El Paso Library. Collection Name: MS241 Jose Cisneros. Photo ID: Nuestra Senora.

Uploaded by: UTEP Library Special Collections