Colonial School. Early 18th century. "Our Lady of Valvanera" Oil on canvas. 62 x 46,5 cm. The iconography comes from the anonymous engraving dedicated to the Captain General of Sea and Land Iñigo de la Cruz Manrique de Lara Ramírez de Arellano (1673-1733). In it one can observe the Virgin Mary’s clothing, the position of the tree, the chest in the foreground and the eagle of the throne, among other details. Before a large tree trunk, the Virgin of Valvanera rests on her throne – the patron of La Rioja— she is richly dressed, with the Child on her knees and a fruit and a flower in her left hand. According to legend, a sinner who repented and became a hermit found the image of the Madonna and Child inside the trunk of an oak, alongside a honeycomb and a spring. He built a hermitage in the place which became a monastery after a time. This painting must be related to the similar painting of Our Lady of Valvanera which presides over the main altarpiece at Saint Maron Cathedral, currently a Syriac Maronite church, but which was the Parish Church of Our Lady of Valvanera until 1922, and previously was the ‘Combento de Balvanera’ (Valvanera Convent). Carved, polychromed and gilded period wooden frame.