Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, also known simply as Juan Diego, was a Chichimec peasant and Marian visionary. He is said to have been granted apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe on four occasions in December 1531: three at the hill of Tepeyac and a fourth before don Juan de Zumárraga, then bishop of Mexico. The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located at the foot of Tepeyac, houses the cloak (tilmahtli) that is traditionally said to be Juan Diego's, and upon which the image of the Virgin is said to have been miraculously impressed as proof of the authenticity of the apparitions.
Saint Juan Diego by Miguel, 1752
At the foot of the Tepeyac Hill
Juan Diego by Miguel Cabrera
Engraving published in the book Happiness of Mexico in 1666 and 1669 (Spain) representing Juan Diego during the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe
A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary the mother of Jesus, or a series of related such appearances during a period of time.
The Marian Vision of Saint Bernard, by Fra Bartolommeo, c. 1504. Uffizi, Florence
Statue of Our Lady of La Salette, an apparition reported to have occurred in France
Our Lady of Guadalupe is widely considered integral to the cultural identity of Mexico and Latin American culture.
Jetzer being tricked. Jetzer was a Dominican friar in Bern, and some of his brothers tricked him into thinking he was receiving a revelation from the Virgin Mary. Eventually he realized the truth. As punishment for this scandal, four Dominicans were burned at the stake by order of Pope Julius II with an audience of 30,000 people on May 1, 1509.
