These broadsides, produced between the 1890s and 1910s in Mexico, are a valuable insight into the cultural, political, social, and religious lives of people in and around Mexico City. Known as “ojas volantes” (literally “flying pages” or flyers), they combine current events with writings of popular Marian devotion, such as verse, theatrical works, prayers, and narratives of alleged miracles. Some are souvenirs from shrines and basilicas such as those dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos. While often dramatized, these texts illustrate the connection between mass market printing, popular Marian devotion, and sociocultural developments in Mexico at the turn of the 20th century. This era in Mexico, known as the Porfiriato after Porfirio Díaz, brought rapid modernization to the country while also producing the conditions necessary for the Mexican Revolution, the effects of which rippled through political and social life for much of the remainder of the first half of the 20th century.
These ojas volantes were produced by the print shop of Antonio Vanegas Arroyo in Mexico City. Vanegas Arroyo’s printed works were distributed across Mexico, blending genres and bringing writings from poetry to current events to narratives of alleged miracles to a national audience. Vanagas Arroyo employed writers, typesetters, printers, and other specialized workers at his press. Among the most renowned engravers who contributed to Arroyo’s publications is Jose Guadalupe Posada, who is considered an important figure not only in printmaking, but in the broader cultural imagery of Mexico.
Posada’s “La Calavera Catrina”, an engraving of a skeleton with a wide-brimmed hat decorated with flowers and large feather plumes, is one of the most commonly associated images with Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos and has evolved to be a national symbol of Mexico. Like much of Posada’s work, it originally appeared in a Vanegas Arroyo oja volante. Many of the engravings in the broadsides here are the work of Posada, and the recycling of images or motifs across various broadsides show how Posada’s work was used to illustrate various prints created in Vanegas Arroyo’s shop.
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iEI fin del mundo se aproxima!
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
Beneath the title, an engraving on the recto shows a chaotic scene of a church toppling, people fleeing, a man lying facedown, and one figure gesturing upwards to a person that appears to be rapturing to the heavens. In the foreground, a man on his knees gestures with both arms to the sky.
The text describes prophecies made by a Mother Matiana, who foresaw many calamities ocurring at the beginning of the 20th century. The text describes wars occuring in Mexico and abroad, especially the Mexican Revolution and World War I. The author attributes these events to God's punishment, citing the 1912 Acambay earthquake. The text details the severe damage to Acambay and the surrounding area, as well as the mass casualties from the quake. The text concludes with an intercession to Our Lady of Guadalupe to return Mexico to peace.
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La Basilica de Guadalupe se esta hundiendo rapidamente
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The text of this broadside reports on the sinking of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe due to the site's swampy foundation on the banks of the former Lake Texcoco. Between the two columns of text about the basilica's sinking is an engraving of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is followed by a prayer to the Virgin of Guadalupe. The verso contains a description of various local disasters including earthquakes and a longer discussion of the link between the sighting of Halley's comet and the Mexican Revolution, suggesting that the linkage may be superstitious but the war itself is punishment from God. The text concludes with a description of the thousands dead due to the war and the public health risk of the flies brought attracted by the bodies of the dead. The two columns of text are bisected by a large engraving of a fly.
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Horrible suceso fraguado por el demonio y destruido por el admirable y portentoso milagro de Nuestra Sra. De Guadalupe, entre los esposos Maria Juliana Delgado y Pedro Garcia.
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The recto contains an engraving of a man holding a club in one hand and grasping the head of a kneeling woman in the other. Before the kneeling woman appears a comic-like illustration of the Virgin of Guadalupe framed by clouds. Behind the man is the figure of the devil in a cloud of smoke, with large ears, horns, a tail, and one cloven hoof and one bird's talon for feet.
The text relays the story of Maria Juliana Delgado and her husband, Pedro Garcia. They are happily married for ten months before Pedro falls into the vices of drinking and gambling. Eventually he begins to beat Maria, becoming increasingly drunken and eventually gambling away even his clothes. He story describes that he approaches the devil to sell his soul for more funds to support his vices, but the devil replies that he already owns Pedro's soul. The devil asks for Maria's soul in exchange for money, which Pedro agrees to, asking for six years before he must deliver her to the devil. Pedro receives the money and after six years, brings Maria to the devil. Terrified, Maria prays to the Virgin of Guadalupe, who intercedes on her behalf, vanquishing the devil and saving Pedro's soul after he offers sincere repentance. At the bottom of the verso is a series of verses which retell the story.
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Nuestra Senora de San Juan de los Lagos que se venera en el estado de Jalisco
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The recto is a full-page engraving of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos with a highly decorative border. Two angels flank the image, carrying a banner that reads "Mater Immaculata Ora Pro Nobis" (or "Immaculate Mother, pray for us").
The text on the verso describes a miracle allegedly performed by Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos. Jose F. Luna, a coal merchant, fell ill from typhus. Treatments failed and his condition worsened until it seemed certain he would die. Jose's wife Amalia prayed fervently with her children to Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos. In turn, Jose made a slow but complete recovery and eventually the family visited the image of the Virgin to give thanks. The text closes with a prayer of thanksgiving.
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Profanacion de las reliquias de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
An engraving of Our Lady of Guadalupe appears above the left column of text on the recto, and is signed "J. Engberg, Mex." Between the main text of the story and the prayer to the Virgin of Guadalupe on the verso is an engraving of Juan Diego seen from behind, facing the apparation of Guadalupe on Tepeyac Hill.
The text is comprised mostly of a story about Maria Ignacia Banderas, wife to Lucas Cordero of Apulco. On a trip to Mexico City, Lucas visits the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and returns to his wife with several relics from the shrine. During his absence, Maria has been socializing with Protestants and rejects Lucas's gifts, destroying them and throwing them into the fire. According to the story, a priest recovers the items miraculously undamaged by the fire, and Maria is punished, becoming blind, deaf, and contracting leprosy. Her family shuns her because of her illness and after four years of suffering, Maria repents. Overnight she is restored to health. The text concludes by encouraging the tale to be told across the country to encourage people to pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe for her intercession. The bottom of the verso concludes with a prayer to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
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Oracion a Nuestra Sra. Del Refugio
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The recto contains a nearly full-page engraving of Our Lady of Refuge, a madonna and child ringed in a garlard of flowers and accompanied by angels. A plaque at the bottom of the engraving reads "Refugia de Pecadores," or "Refuge of Sinners." The verso has a smaller engraving of the madonna and child in floral wreath near the bottom of the page.
The text contains prayers and praises for Our Lady of Refuge. Its relates the story of Sergeant Santiago Ruiz, living in Spain during the reign of Charles V (1516-1556). He deserted the military to look after his ailing mother, who was healed by the Virgin. In threat of persecution for desertion, he was hidden from the patrol. The other story, taken from 1862 in Mexico, relates that two brothers prayed to Our Lady of Refuge to be freed from involuntary commission into the military. One was deemed unfit for service and the other successfully hid in a church while being taken to the barracks. The text ends with several verses written in praise of Our Lady of Refuge.
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Alabanzas, accion de gracias y tierno despedimento a nuestra augusta reina y patrona Maria Santisima de San Juan de las Lagos.
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
This broadside has two pages printed on the recto and verso, so that when folded there are four pages of text. On what would be the cover, there is an engraving at the top of the page depicting Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos in a rectagular frame. She is flanked on either side by figures in religious garb, each carrying oil lamps with smoke streaming behind. The decorative border for the scene has angels at the two top corners. The page just inside the cover features an engraving of a large processional gathered in front of the image of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos at the very bottom.
Possibly a souvenir for a pilgrim to the shrine of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos, the text of this broadside contains prayers and a farewell to the Virgin written from the point of view of a pilgrim. The text mentions Pope Leo XIII, Pope Pius X, and Archbishop Jose de Jesus Ortiz y Rodriguez of Guadalajara. Archbishop Ortiz y Rodriguez crowned the Virgin by decree of Pope Pius X in 1904. The bottom of the last page (when folded) has spaces for the reader to fill in their name and the date of their pilgrimage.
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Loa dicha par Sancho Panza y Dona Cenobia. En honor de la pureza de Maria Santisima.
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The recto contains an engraving of two cartoonish figures, a woman on the left and a man on the right. The woman holds a spoon to her mouth, eating from a large pot, with a sack of food spilling out beneath her. The man gestures at her with arms raised and his hands balled into fists.
The text is a loa, a short dramatic work that originated in Spain but that proliferated in Latin America. Loas entertained audiences waiting for the beginning of a festival or full length theatrical work. The dialogue of this work between Sancho Panza and Dona Cenobia focuses on Sancho Panza's love of eating. To keep Dona Cenobia from his food, he tells her it is poison and a misunderstanding ensues. When the religious procession passes them, they stop their conversation and join in prayer.
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Loa dicha por el Dr. Mercolico en honor de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The recto has a small engraving of two men in top hats, one holding a box. The other reaches out to a figure with a bandaged head, holding their jaw. The verso has an engraving of the Virgin of Guadalupe flanked by figures in religious garb, holding oil lamps.
The text is a loa, a short dramatic work that originated in Spain but that proliferated in Latin America. Loas entertained audiences waiting for the beginning of a festival or full length theatrical work. In this monologue, a dentist describes his craft. He is interrupted by a procession for Our Lady of Guadalupe, and begins to pray to the Virgin.
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Tierno despedimento do los fieles a la Santisima Virgen de Guadalupe Patrona de la Republica Mexicana
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
This broadside has two pages printed on the front and back, so that when folded there are four pages of text. It is printed on dark orange paper. On what would be the cover there is an engraving of Our Lady of Guadalupe flanked by cherubs on either side. Along what would be the inner fold are illustrations of the front and back of the Guadalupe medallion, and the text on the top half of the back cover is framed by figures in religious garb carrying oil lamps.
The text is comprised of prayers for Our Lady of Guadalupe from the perspective of a pilgrim to the shrine, naming specific regions of Mexico where pilgrims may have traveled from. The text also highlights the indulgence granted to those wearing the medal of Guadalupe and relates the story of the coronation of the Virgin of Guadalupe and designation of the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1904 by decree of Pope Pius X. Possibly a souvenir from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
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lncreible suceso una mujer que se convierte en piedra relato traido de San Juan de los Lagos
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
Engraving at the top of the recto shows a group of four figures in the foreground. In the center a man and women are standing and have arms raised and facial expressions that show surprise. The man is wearing a hat and carries a walking stick; both figures are wearing cloaks. A child sits at the foot of the man and with his hands covering his face. To the left of these figures, a shoeless woman with her hair in disarray lays against a small boulder. The background of the scene shows a forested setting, and to the right a group of people with hats and walking sticks are shown walking from behind.
The text of the broadside tells the story of Dona Eugenia Chavez, who recovers from a serious illness and in turn undertakes a pilgrimage between Nuevo Leon and the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos barefoot. Accompanied by her husband, mother, and child, during the journey Eugenia is possessed by demons and begins to curse the difficult journey and express anger toward Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos. Near the end of the journey, Eugenia takes shelter under a tree and expresses that she wishes she had never undertaken the pilgrimage. There is a large thunderclap and Eugenia is turned to stone, much to her family's terror. Eugenia's mother and husband beg her to repent and ask to the Virgin to have compassion. Eugenia refuses to repent and the family begs for mercy at the sanctuary of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos. Given the severity of Eugenia's actions, she remains in her stone form, much like Lot's wife, who was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back at Sodom. The story concludes by noting that faith and contrition are the what is required by God and Mary; instructing readers that Eugenia could have quit her pilgrimage without cursing or blaspheming and all would have been settled. The bottom of the verso contains a retelling of Eugenia's story in verse.
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Nuestra Senora de San Juan de los Lagos
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The recto is a full-page engraving of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos with a highly decorative border, and the bottom half of the verso is an engraving of the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos and its plaza.
The text on the verso is comprised mostly of prayers from the point of view of a pilgrim to the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos. It includes an act of contrition and praises for various miracles performed by the Virgin. It concludes with a short history of the basilica and its annual festival. Possibly a souvenir from the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos.
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Accion de gracias a la Santisima Virgen Maria de San Juan de los Lagos
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The recto has an engraving of the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos with Posada's signature on the bottom left corner. A large procession heading into the basilica spills out into the courtyard outside. The top of the verso carries an engraving from the inside of the basilica, with the image of the Virgin framed by curtains on the left and a clerical figure in biretta standing on a balcony on the right. A crowd stands facing both, with their backs visible. Text is placed so that it appears the crowd is saying: "Adios Virgen de los Lagos / Adios Reina de los cielos; / Adios Templo Sacrosanto / Dentro un ano nos veremos." (in English, "Goodbye Virgin of the Lakes / Goodbye Queen of Heaven; / Goodbye Sacred Temple / In a year we will see each other.") The text is comprised of prayers to Our Lady of San Juan de Los Lagos, naming specific regions of Mexico where pilgrims may have traveled from. Possibly a souvenir from the basilica of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos.
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Admirable milagro de la Sma. Virgen de Guadalupe en el pueblo de Taxco: un cirio con substancias explosivas
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The recto has a large engraving depicting the interior of a church. The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is surrounded by candles on the altar. In front of the altar, various figures stand with the backs turned. One group surrounds a man on his knees.
The text describes the actions of a non-Catholic from Taxco resentful of the masses attending church. He brought two candles to the local church, including one filled with explosives. He brought them to the priest, asking that they be lit during the service on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The priest instructed the sacristan to burn them in advance to have them ready for the service. After lighting them, the sacristan felt a strong, inexplicable urge to put them out, later examining them and discovering the explosives. After notifying the priest, they thanked Our Lady of Guadalupe for instructing the sacristan to extinguish them, saving them from the explosion. The bottom of the verso contains a prayer of thanksgiving.
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Coloquio para celebrar la maravillosa aparicion de Ntra. Senora de Guadalupe.
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
An engraving on the top of the recto shows Juan Diego, with back turned, facing the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a hill in the background. Angels flank the scene, and all are encased in an elaborate border.
The text is a short dramatization with dialogue, scenic directions, and a musical chorus. It details a conversation between Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. It begins with the first apparition at Tepeyac Hill, with the Virgin instructing Juan Diego to go to the Archbishop of Mexico City, Juan de Zumarraga, to tell him to build a temple on the hill for her. The dialogue shifts to this conversation between Diego and Zumarraga, in which the archbishop does not believe the story and sends Diego away. In this dramatization, Juan Diego plans to go home but is taken by the arms back to the apparition. He explains the archbishop's disbelief, and she shows him the Castilian roses miraculously growing on Tepeyac Hill. In another conversation with the archbishop, Juan Diego presents the roses and tilma to validate the apparition.
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Devoto salutacion tiernas alabanzas accion de gracias y expresivo despedimento a la milagrosisima Imagen de Nuestra Senora de San Juan de las Lagos.
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
An engraving of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos fills the top half of the recto. She is flanked by cherubs in flight and birds at the top left and right hand corners. On the verso an engraving in the shape of an upside-down T intersects the text and separates it into separate columns. Inside the shape is a scene of worshippers gathered for mass in front of the image of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos, with the image at the top of the shape framed by curtains and candles. At the bottom of the page at the left and right hand corners are two figures in religious garb holding oil lamps with with smoke streaming behind.
The text is comprised of prayers for Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos from the perspective of a pilgrim to the shrine. The prayer recounts devotees who were saved from shipwreck, poisoning, and fire by calling upon her, as well as punishment doled out and taken away from an impious man who mocked the Virgin and then expressed contrition. It is possibly a souvenir from the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos.
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La anima sola
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The recto contains a full-page engraving with a woman in the foreground. Visible from the chest up and otherwise engulfed in flames and standing in front of a barred window, she gazes upwards and stretches an arm upward, showing the shackles around her wrists. Above this scene on a dais made of clouds, Mary and St. Joseph intercede. Three men in robes sitting on thrones represent the Holy Trinity, and they have triangular haloes. Angels attend to the scene.
The text of the verso describes the experience of a soul in Purgatory and entreats the reader to consider such a fate. The bottom of the page is an invocation, asking the Holy Trinity to take pity on the reader's/writer's soul.
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Loa dicha por una cocinera y un aguador en honor de Nuestra Senora del Rosario
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The recto contains an engraving of two figures, a woman on the left and a man on the right. The woman holds out her finger toward him. A large pot stands between them.
The text is a loa, a short dramatic work that originated in Spain but that proliferated in Latin America. Loas entertained audiences waiting for the beginning of a festival or full length theatrical work. The dialogue of this work in between a cook and a water carrier. When a religious procession passes them, they stop their conversation and join in prayer for Our Lady of the Rosary.
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Milagrosa imagen de Nuestra Senora de los Remedios
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
The recto has a full-page engraving of Our Lady of Los Remedios, with a large crown and mantle. The mantle drapes over the moon and heavens at her feet, resting on a snake wrapped around a sphere. The figure is atop a pedestal. The verso has an engraving depicting Jesus with a crown of thorns and tears of blood, flanked by angels.
The text describes an elderly woman who must beg for food; she visits her son who is a rich man and asks for his help. He refuses cruelly, claiming that he owes nothing to her and sends her to work in his fields. His wife, a Catholic, warns him that they must honor their parents, and she offers to serve her mother-in-law. They mount horses to find her in the fields, but a massive flood strikes and washes away the man's farms, taking his wealth with it. The author entreats the reader to wear a scapular.
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Sorprendente milagro. Segunda aparicion de Nuestra Senora la Virgen Santisima de Guadalupe, entre la Hacienda de la Lecheria y San Martin.
lmprenta de Antonio Vanegas Arroyo
Illustrator: Jose Guadalupe Posada
Come, all believers,
And adore with blind faith,
The Queen of the Heavens
Found in a maguey.
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Singular fenomeno. El nino sin craneo en la villa de Guadalupe.
Antonio Vanegas Arroyo and José Guadalupe Posada
An engraving on the top of the recto shows a small figure sleeping on his side. According to the description in the text below, the child is depicted with eyes on his forehead and the body of a monkey, including a tail.
The text describes a stillbirth to a woman named Agapita. According to the story, the child was born with fetal anomalies including eyes in his forehead and a vestigial tail, though the title of the broadside states that the child was born without a skull. Agapita and others believe the child looks like a monkey and locals believe that these characteristics are punishment from God resulting from both mother and father disobeying their parents. Agapita prostrates herself in front of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and realizes that her punishment is twofold: first that she gives birth to this child, and secondly that she endures the compassionless commentary of others. The story concludes by stating that the fetus will be taken to the Public Ministry to be displayed to the public in the National Museum.
