Mounted Antique Distressed Wooden Santo c.1890-1940
ABOUT
A distressed painted carved wooden Mexican Santo. Carved areas exist where the head and articulating arms would have been. The appearance of a "dress" suggests that it was covered in fabric at one point. A newer steel plate has been added sometime in it's lifetime.
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CREATOR Unknown.
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DATE OF MANUFACTURE c.1890-1940.
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MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES Wood, Paint, Steel.
- CONDITION Distressed. Wear consistent with age.
- DIMENSIONS H 25.75 in. x W 5.5 in. x D 5.5 in.
HISTORY
Santos played an important role in bringing the Catholic Church to the New World with the Spanish colonists. These religious figures were hand-carved and often furnished with crowns, jewels, and other accessories, usually funded by religious devotees, and were used as icons to explain the major figures - Mary, Christ, and the saints - to new, indigenous converts. Likewise, they served as a connection to the Old World for Spanish colonists far from home. They became a folk art tradition in the Spanish New World, from modern day Guatemala to as far north as New Mexico and Colorado. Many of them were lovingly cared for over the years, with repairs and paint added as they aged, and played an active part for a long time in the religious life of their communities.
