Signum Magnum

Altarpiece commissioned by Father Josef Bisig FSSP for Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton Nebraska

Signum Magnum is the title for this allegorical representation of the Virgin of Guadalupe appearing as an Aztec Princess witnessed by Saint Juan Diego in December 1531 and documented by her gift for the Bishop of Mexico; Castilian roses in winter on the barren Tepeyac Hill and her incorruptible image impressed upon his tilma.

This painting was designed and handmade by Langley Artworks LLC in Savannah Georgia expressly for the Marian Altar in the chapel at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, (Thomas Gordon Smith Architects).

Oil on Belgian linen canvas 16’x9’ (192”x108”, 5.3mx3m) with special gratitude to father Charles van Vliet, FSSP who made the plaster frame for the painting.

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The Lady clothed in the sun appears before Juan Diego as an angel holds her crown of twelve stars.
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Roses blooming in winter as a sign given to Juan Diego with the seminary of our Lady designed by architect Thomas Gordon Smith.
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Juan Diego beholds the woman clothed in the sun and opens his tilma to collect the roses she gave to him to bring to the bishop as a sign.
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Juan Diego at lower left in enraptured by the appearance of the lady while an angel overhead carries a model of the temple she has asked to be erected in this place. On the distant hill is the seminary designed by Thomas Gordon Smith, where the painting now hangs.

Signum Magnum: allegory of la Guadalupana, in oil on Belgian Linen with Lapis Lazuli and 22 karat gold leaf, 16'x9' by painter James Langley for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.

The angel above the miraculous roses holds the Introit for the Feast of the Assumption (August 15) reading: Signum Magnum Apparvit in Caelo: A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Apocalipsis 12:1

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