New World, Mexico, Spanish Colonial style, ca. late 19th to early 20th century CE. A pair of hand-carved, matched wood santos, one depicting Christ and one depicting the Virgin Mary. Both wear white gowns with draped blue cloaks, and they each have a sensitively-carved face with painted eyes and hair. Both stand on green square bases. Size: 3.5" L x 5" W x 11.5" H (8.9 cm x 12.7 cm x 29.2 cm)

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.

Provenance: private Moore collection Denver, Colorado, USA, acquired thirty years ago

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#121969

Both have excellent craquelure, with wear to paint, small losses to wood, especially to fingers on figures. One arm on the Mary figure may have been reattached.