Retablo Altar

Item number 2721/1 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

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Data
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Description

Retablo altar of Santiago (St. James) in pilgrim's clothes. Painted bearded figure, wearing a straw hat and holding a sword in one hand and a blue staff with gold gourds in the other, stands behind a pane of glass within a blue wooden box with decorated interior and hinged side opening. The front of the altar is topped with three crosses and painted pink, gold, yellow, blue and white.

Narrative

Purchased directly from the artist by Ricardo Muratorio in 1976 or 1977.

Iconographic Meaning

Santiago, the warrior saint revered by the Spanish conquerors and later taken up by indigenous peoples, was thought to be a powerful supernatural being who was able to cure the sick, among other things.