La Llorona
by Victoria De Almeida
Original - Not For Sale
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Dimensions
16.000 x 20.000 x 1.000 inches
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Title
La Llorona
Artist
Victoria De Almeida
Medium
Painting - Acrylic On Canvas
Description
This is a painting I did of La Llorona. She is the Hispanic version of the Boogy Man. There are many versions of La Llorona (which in Spanish means, "The Wailing Woman") but I will tell you the story I responded to as an artist and that I based this painting on.
During the colonial period when Mexico owned New Mexico in the 19th century there was a very strict caste system set up by the Spanish that settled there. There was a native woman named Maria who was very beautiful and very poor. She turned all of the men's heads in the village especially Pedro, the 16-year-old son of the wealthiest Spanish family who were patrons of the village. When his mother Dona Ana found out her son was in love with the Indian girl, she put her foot down and forbid him to see her. Of course, Pedro could not resist Maria's beauty and snuck out to be with her. Soon, two children resulted out of wedlock.
Because of the children's illegitimacy Maria was a pariah in the village. Pedro kept promising to marry her when his mother died but years went by and he did not propose. When Pedro’s mother took sick and finally died Pedro became heir to her riches. Maria believed he would finally make good on his vow to marry her and make her a respectable, he did not. He came to see her less and less and when he did visit her, he only paid attention to the children whom he loved dearly.
One evening Pedro showed up at her little casita and to Maria’s great shock he had another woman on his arm. Pedro introduced the woman, who was Spanish and a wealthy heiress in her own right, to Maria as his fiancé. He turned around virtually ignoring her and introduced the woman to his children. Maria noticed the love he had in his eyes when he looked at the children. Pedro left without saying goodbye with his arm around his fiancé.
Maria went into her bedroom and pulled the white gown out of an old cedar chest that she had painstakingly made for the wedding Pedro had promised her years ago. She put it on and took both children by the hands and led them to the river. Insane with jealously and hate in her heart she was determined to hurt Pedro in the only way she knew how. She threw both her precious children into the raging river. Immediately panicking at what she had done she ran along the river’s edge trying to pull them from the water. When she finally arrived at the basin of the river, she saw both of her children’s body’s floating lifelessly on the river’s edge. In complete horror and despair of what she had done she laid back in the water and piled heavy river rock on her chest and drowned herself.
When her spirit was suspended in Purgatory God came to her and said to Maria, “In killing your children, you have done the worst thing any mother can ever do. I shall curse your spirit and you will wonder the world for eternity crying out for your children and feeling every bit of the pain and regret you have in your heart on this very day. You are to be known as La Llorona because you will never stop crying out in pain looking for your children.”
When I tell people this story, they are usually mortified by the macabre horror of the story. The thing I tell people is this: EVERY culture has a Boogie Man or a Water Witch. I was born and raised in the state of New Mexico. We are an agricultural state and there are many ditches, acequias, and rivers here. Children drown very often here and La Llorona has always been used by parents to keep their children safe. So, growing up when we left to go out and play, we would hear our parents say things like, “You stay away from the water because La Llorona drowned her own children and she will see you and kill you too.” or “Come in before the sun comes down or La Llorona will snatch you away.” Of course our parents also threatened us with her to their convenience saying if we didn’t behave La Llorona would get us.
After I painted this piece, I was intrigued to see how my native New Mexicans reacted to it. The seemed horrified and yet drawn to her at the same time. Quite simply, she is part of our culture, part of our story as Hispanic people. In a weird way we are kind of proud to have her as part of our story as Hispano peoples.
To just give you some Easter egg details about this piece: The little casita on the left is Maria’s adobe which is very poor and modest. High up on the land is the wealthy Dona Ana’s hacienda. I’ve placed it higher on the painting to show the superiority of social standing that the Spanish family feels about themselves. You will notice a Spanish flag flying and see the mother in her mantilla holding up a lantern keeping watch. In the window you will see Pedro, her son, longing to see Maria again. Maria is wearing her lace gown and a garnet brooch which has three garnet drops which symbolizes the blood of three lives lost that night. The children look very ambiguous. Their faces are lifeless, their eyes rolling back into their heads. Are they sad and they know what their mother is going to do? Or perhaps has Maria already done it and she has just fished out their lifeless bodies from the river? It’s up to you to decide as the viewer.
“No pinto con mis manos; pinto con mi Corazon.”
Con mucho carino,
Arist,
Victoria de Almeida
Uploaded
January 21st, 2019
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