The 1998 Digital Archive of the Tilma

Most prints of Our Lady of Guadalupe are copies of copies: a photograph of a painting of a print, retouched along the way. A small number trace back to a digital capture made directly from the tilma in the Basilica of Guadalupe. One of those captures is documented by a certificate signed in Mexico City on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12, 1998.

What is the “digital archive of the Sacred Original”?

It is a digital capture of the original tilma, the image the Church calls the Sagrado Original. The certificate signed by Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, Archbishop Primate of Mexico, reads:

“Certifico que la presente impresión es una reproducción fiel del archivo digital del Sagrado Original de la imagen de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.”
“I certify that this print is a faithful reproduction of the digital archive of the Sacred Original of the Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.”

The certificate is dated 12-XII-1998, so the archive existed by that day. No surviving document we hold gives the date of the capture itself.

Who was Digital Color, S.A. de C.V.?

Digital Color, S.A. de C.V. is the Mexican company named at the foot of the certificate: “Captura del archivo digital y reproducción: DIGITAL COLOR S.A. DE C.V.” (digital archive capture and reproduction). The certificate credits it with both.

Beyond that line, we have found no public record of the company or of who authorized it to do the work. If you know more about Digital Color or the 1998 capture, we would like to hear from you at wfleonard@primosmaternos.com.

What does “faithful reproduction” certify?

It certifies that one print matched the digital archive. That is a narrower claim than it sounds, and the difference matters when you compare sellers:

It speaks to the print made in 1998, not to every print made since.
It certifies faithfulness to the archive, which was captured from the Sacred Original.
It is not an endorsement of any seller, including us.

How is it different from the Virgen Peregrina blessing?

They are two separate documents. The second records that the image known as the Virgen Peregrina, the Pilgrim Virgin, was blessed by Pope John Paul II on January 25, 1999, during his visit to Mexico City. It then traveled throughout Mexico from January 1999 to April 2000 for the Great Jubilee. The 1998 certificate is about fidelity to the original; the 1999 document is about a blessing and a pilgrimage.

Is it the same as the Missionary Image?

Not as far as any document shows. The Missionary Images are four large reproductions that, according to the Diocese of Orange and diocesan accounts, were made from a high-resolution digital image of the original tilma in 1999, with the approval of the Church. They were blessed by Monsignor Diego Monroy and have toured parishes in the United States and elsewhere.

The published accounts of the Missionary Images date their capture to 1999 and do not name Digital Color or Cardinal Rivera. The 1998 certificate shows an archive already existed the year before. Whether the two are the same capture is not something the public record settles, so we don't claim it.

Why the capture matters for a print

A print is only as sharp as the file behind it. The file we print from is 6,900 by 10,350 pixels, exactly the 2:3 proportion of the cloth, so nothing is cropped or stretched. That works out to 287.5 pixels per inch on a 24 by 36 inch canvas. The details are on our canvas sizes page, and full-size crops of the face, stars, and gold edging are on our authenticity page alongside both certificates.

Sources

The 1998 certificate of faithful reproduction and the 1999 Virgen Peregrina certification, both shown on our authenticity page.
Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, “What is the Missionary Image?”
OC Catholic, “The Missionary Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
The Holy See, Pope John Paul II in Mexico City, January 25, 1999.