Lot 128
New World, Mexico, Spanish Colonial Style, ca. 19th century CE. A fine example of a hand-carved wood santo depicting San Francisco de Paula (Saint Francis of Paola). He wears a hooded brown habit with gold details around its edges. This is a rare depiction of the saint as a young man, but he retains his characteristic flowing beard and bare feet. His hands are pressed to his chest, a common pose for San Francisco. A tin halo completes the artwork. A more recent worshipper has placed a wooden cross on a sterling silver chain around his neck. Size: 5" L x 6" W x 17.5" H (12.7 cm x 15.2 cm x 44.4 cm)
San Francisco de Paula founded the Order of Minims, also known as the Hermits of Saint Francis, and preached to his followers about humility and charity. Born in Italy in the early 1400s, he retired to a cave near Reggio on his fifteenth birthday and spent the rest of his life in pious worship. He is a popular figure in Mexican religious folk art, and his intervention is sought for protection against fires and plagues, while his help is asked for the blind, the maimed, and lepers.
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: ex Francis & Lilly Robicsek Collection, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
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#120429
- Condition: Losses to paint and overpainting, most evident on the top of the hood. Patina and some wax on the halo.
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