Our Lady Refuge of Sinners (Nuestra Señora, del Refugio de los Pecadores)

In 1719 a Jesuit missionary copied an image of Our Lady of Refuge from Italy to bring to Mexico, and in 1843 the first Catholic bishop of California proclaimed this depiction of the Virgin be used to represent the patron saint of both Baja (lower) and Alta (upper) California. The lit votive candles on a shelf below the painting are intended to remind us that objects in museums often retain their original meanings, even after being removed from their original contexts.