Átila Soares da Costa Filho, bachelor in Industrial Design from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Department of Arts and Design), specialist in Anthropology, Art History, Archaeology and Heritage, brings to light what would be the true face of Our Lady of Guadalupe - the greatest cultural icon in the Americas.
It took about two months, among research and tests: "I made several experiments with artificial intelligence plus image editing softwares, as well as to define the features of the face and, finally, some manual artistic retouching on my part. The idea was to obtain a likely physiognomy of a mixed race teenager, Euro-Aztec, and following what tradition says about the apparitions to the indian Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, in the Tepeyac mountain, between December 9 and 12, 1531", explains Átila Soares.
It took about two months, among research and tests: "I made several experiments with artificial intelligence plus image editing softwares, as well as to define the features of the face and, finally, some manual artistic retouching on my part. The idea was to obtain a likely physiognomy of a mixed race teenager, Euro-Aztec, and following what tradition says about the apparitions to the indian Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, in the Tepeyac mountain, between December 9 and 12, 1531", explains Átila Soares.
The real "Mother of Americas": Artificial Intelligence plus ethnic tweaks for revealing what an indigenous hood would hold for 500 years
(PICTURE: Átila Soares da Costa Filho, 2023).
(PICTURE: Átila Soares da Costa Filho, 2023).
Soares further emphasizes: "The representations of what 'Guadalupana' may have truly looked like have been quite discrepant among themselves, due to the fact that each designer follows a particular line of method. In my opinion, the Mexican Mary was mestizo - and not purely indigenous, as some argue - for two reasons: In the image printed on Juan Diego's 'tilma' (hood), supposedly by the saint herself, we see no traces that indicate she was a descendant from the Aztecs. On the contrary, her physiognomy is fully compatible with the fundamentals of European art at that time, that is, Late Gothic transmuted into Hispanic Colonial Art.
The "Queen of Americas": Another concept about an "Indigenous Madonna", with Artificial Intelligence Art generator and the work by Soares on her face
(PICTURE: Átila Soares da Costa Filho, 2023).
(PICTURE: Átila Soares da Costa Filho, 2023).
Only the brunette color in the so-venerated image gives us this notion about the mestizaje of "Tonantzin Coatlaxopeuh" - as Maria was known in the native syncretism, in ‘náuatle' language. Moreover, the subliminal idea in this specific ‘mariofania’ would be precisely the celebration of the indigenous people from the New World to the Christian Old World conjunction... And, for such, nothing could be more emblematic than a ‘cabocla’ Mary".
Our Lady of Guadalupe: The greatest cultural icon in the New World. Her fame and devotion reaches the most far zones over the planet
(PICTURE: "Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe" Website).
(PICTURE: "Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe" Website).
Professor Átila Soares is also author of the viral experiment on recreating the true face of the Virgin Mary - with results supported by the world's foremost authority on the Turin Shroud, photographer Barrie Schwortz. These experiments have been archived in the Library of the Studies Department from Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima, Portugal. Soares is also part of members in the scientific committee in the Mona Lisa Foundation (Zurich), the Fondazione Leonardo da Vinci (Milan), and the Comitato Nazionale per la Valorizzazione dei Beni Storici Culturali e Ambientali (Rome).
Opening Picture: Our Lady of Guadalupe - Balcru, Mexico.