La Conquistadora, a small wooden Madonna and Child in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, is traditionally regarded as the first Madonna brought to what is now the United States and remains one of New Mexico’s most important religious images. Probably created between the 15th and 17th centuries, she arrived from Mexico City with Fray Alonso de Benavides in 1626, though church tradition often uses 1625. After the Pueblo Revolt, Don Diego de Vargas carried the image back to Santa Fe in 1693 and gave her the name La Conquistadora. Still central to devotion and Fiesta traditions, she embodies New Mexico’s layered and contested past.

Santa Fe, New Mexico · USA