SUMMARY: The Virgin of Remedies of Cholula: Symbolic and Performative Relationships between Figure and Votive Dresses

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to explore how the superimposed dresses, jewels and ornaments of the cult image of Our Lady of Remedy of Cholula functioned as symbolic elements in its iconography. In addition, an attempt is made to analyse its different uses in the construction of identity imaginaries in the rhetoric of the conquest and foundation in New Spain, especially the way it is represented in the Map of Cuauhtlantzinco. Also, dresses and ornaments played an essential role in ensuring that the vera efigie, through its “true portraits”, was recognized and venerated by the devotees. The clothes given by donors was a way of bonding affectively with the image through performative practices, for example, in the dressing ceremony, the patron saint festivities and prayer processions.