Latin America, Mexico, ca. 19th century CE. Painted on heavy gauge tin with rolled borders and radiating upper attachments, a retablo depicting San Francisco de Paula, the Italian saint who founded the Order of Minims or Hermits of Saint Francis in 1436 and infamously preached sermons about charity and humility to his pious followers, before a small chapel (lower right) set in a lovely landscape, with a lamb emerging from an oven with flames and plumes of smoke (signifying his protection from fires), and the word Caridad (Charity) surrounded by abstract red flames in the upper left corner. Attached hook and old rope on verso. Size: 17.75" L x 13.125" W (45.1 cm x 33.3 cm)

San Francisco de Paula is credited with miraculous cures, resurrecting the deceased, protection against fires, comfort for the maimed, the blind, and otherwise disabled, and preventing plagues. In Mexican paintings, San Francisco de Paula is depicted as a friar with the word Caritas or Caridad, oftentimes surrounded by flames, in his vicinity. He received his name following a visit with his parents to the shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi. At a young age of fifteen, San Francisco de Paula became a hermit and elected to reside in a cave near Reggio. Here he is shown in the traditional manner, including a lamb emerging from an oven with flames and plumes of smoke.

Retablos, known as ‘laminas’ in Mexico, are small oil paintings, usually on heavy-gauge tin, depicting Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Holy Family, the Holy Trinity, or any one of a canon of patron saints, created with an engaging blend of folk-art and Baroque-inspired style deeply rooted in Spanish history. This unique tradition was introduced to Mexico by the Spaniards upon their arrival in the New World and was ultimately embraced by the indigenous population. The literal translation of the word retablo is "behind the altar," and the creation of this art form was motivated by a desire to worship a holy person or divine coterie in one's household and possess imagery that would ensure health, fertility, good fortune, and a rich harvest.

Provenance: ex-Kurquhill's Gallery, El Paso, Texas, USA; ex-private El Paso, Texas, USA collection, acquired early to mid 1970s

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#127713

Some surface scratches but imagery is vivid. Small remains of glass covering still attached to corners of frame. Old label on verso reads, "San Francisco de Paula Miraculous Cures, the Raising of the Dead, & Averting of Plagues . . . Immune to Fire."