Embossed silver covered wooden lectern. Colonial School. Mexico. 18th century.

Embossed silver covered wooden lectern. Colonial School. Mexico. 18th century.
31 x 33 x 27,5 cm.
Made from sheets of embossed silver which totally cover the wooden structure. The piece is outstanding due to the precision of its ornamentation, as despite its profusion, each motif stands out by itself, and the end result is elegant, balanced and finely executed.
The back is four-sided and divided into four spaces, in each one of which we find an angel’s head on a background of fallen leaves and scrolls, and a central button which displays the anagram of the Virgin Mary. The platform is straight and on an inclined plane. On the lower part it is decorated with a frieze ornamented with spirals and two angels holding an elliptical cartouche in which the name of the Virgin of Guadalupe is engraved.
It rests on four claw and ball feet.
It is worth pointing out that this lectern is dedicated to a Virgin Mary, in this case, Our Lady of Guadalupe. As well as the aforementioned anagram of the Virgin Mary, it also depicts two of the symbols of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mirror and the fountain, which two angels hold in their hands at either side of the lectern.
The decoration on the back continues with the four angels motif, and with a central medallion which, in this case, and as a final reference to the Virgin Mary, displays a beautiful embossed scene depicting Saint Luke the Evangelist as a painter. According to the tradition of the devout, he painted Mary’s portrait, which is present in this composition as we can see the easel in the background with a sketch of Our Lady of Guadalupe on it.