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Hyperfixation Alert: Guadalupe Victoria

I don't know where else to share my (digital) collection of Guadalupe Victoria pictures, so here you have it, Tumblr!

You see, something I'm kinda jealous of when it comes to American history (and other countries), is how often their historic characters are represented in art. It's more difficult to have this in Mexico... I'm talking about the figures who fought in the War of Independence... and it's hard because many of them were killed before getting their face depicted on a portrait.

The paintings we have of many of our "heroes" from the war of independence were created decades after they were killed, so that's not really what they looked like.

This is why I've been obsessed with depictions of Guadalupe Victoria, Mexico's first president. Enjoy!

I've divided this collection in "generations", the first generations being the ones the other depictions of Victoria stem from. Before we countinue, many of these portraits are not dated, so this organization system I've created might not be arranged in chronological order they were created.

Anyways, these are from the First generation:

The one that we'll see more of, is the one on the left, probably because of how handsome he looks. In all three depictions we see Victoria in his military uniform, which he probably never used in battle, since he was not a professional soldier (like most in the insurgent army).

It is a nice uniform, though, the influence of the Spanish uniforms from the viceroyalty is clear.

Second generation:

On the left we see Victoria in civilian clothing but wearing the presidential band. On the right we see a miniature portrait.Both of them are very pretty images, but we can see they are derivative of the ones from the first generation.

In order to simplify depictions of Victoria, his uniform will in later representations lose many adornments, which I think makes it look a bit more like the uniforms of the Mexican army in the mid 19th century... or like a low ranking soldier from Victoria's time. Also his arms are no longer crossed on his chest, which give Guadalupe a more rigid (and boring) pose:

Generation 3: Cartoons... He looks like a funko pop!

Generation 4: Victoria in different logos (all of them schools)

One of these things is not like another... Yes! The image in the middle is not Guadalupe Victoria... It's Agustín de Iturbide!

SEE?! Someone didn't learn their history...

Generation 5: Cute Victoria

Drawings made for schools, ephemeris or lame political propaganda.

Generation 6: Misc... idk what to do with these...

This one above is an image from a "monografía", a piece of paper with images and information on the back. Its use was very popular during elementary schools in Mexico back in my dys, idk if they're still used.

Victoria becomes president. Finally, something original! I'm not sure if it's from a monografía, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was.

¡Va mi espada en prena, voy por ella! The image below depicts Victoria's most famous heroic act during the war of independence:

To inspire his soldiers the young officer threw his sword towards the battlefield, where his troops refused to go despite being essential to capture the place they were attacking. Having done this, he cried "My sword is at stake, I'll go and fetch it!" and threw himself on the battlefield, which inspired his soldiers to follow him. It was after this battle that he stopped being José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix and changed his name to Guadalupe Victoria. "Guadalupe" for his devotion to the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe and "Victoria" because victory was what the insurgency wanted to achieve.

I love that low resolution image with my whole heart, but it must be said, that one of its (possible) innacuracies in depicting this event might, once again, be his uniform. As previously stated, like many of the officers in the insurgent army, Victoria (then Félix) was not a trained soldier... In fact, he'd studied law before joining Father Morelos's army! So he wouldn't have an officer's uniform, or if he indeed wore one during the war, he probably stole it from a dead or defeated Spanish royalist officer. Regardless, it's still a cool piece of art!

COINS!

Look, they're our friends from the first generation!

Honorable mentions:

A bronze statue in Perote, Veracruz—the state where he spent his last years and died.

His presidential band in the Museum of Presidents in Saltillo.