No, I couldn't see any brush strokes. The first two times I went, it was still in the old basilica, in a frame, and you could get very, very close. Now the tilma is in a large frame, under glass, with a spotlight on it, in the new basilica. I got as close as I could every time I was there, and couldn't see any brush marks. It is an amazing object. The colors remain fresh. I have been many times and it always moves me to tears. Being there at the basilica on December 12 is quite an experience, if you can tolerate huge crowds. I have been to Fatima and to Lourdes, as well, and Guadalupe seems the most tangible to me.
Why don't you go to Mexico City and see it? There's a lot of other things to do there, too, such as the Archaeology Museum, which I think is the best in the world, Teotehaucan, Chapultepec, the zoo and the castle, Xochimilco, all the Frida stuff.
“Why don’t you go to Mexico City and see it?”
Soitenly. I’ll just dip a bucket into my money bin, and...