The imposing format of this canvas is up to the subject represented: the Virgin of Caima, ensures protection and prosperity to the Inca Indian people. She is the Virgin of Purification honored on February 2, just like the feast of the presentation of Jesus in the temple, coinciding with that of Candlemas. In the foreground on the left, 5 Indian characters love the Virgin. On the right, 2 female characters hold in their hands a medallion presenting the Virgin as the “Benefactor of Unhappy Indian Women”. The Flemish influence is quite sensitive through a clear vertical division of the composition whose background on the right discovers a meticulously detailed mountain landscape: houses in a village and further, a church of Caïma near Aréquipa, still existing and which the painting has faithfully reproduced. The whole composition reveals a lush nature rich in flowers, fruits and birds in a decorative tree dear to South American artists, and who represent Inca beliefs.
