(Mexico, 19th century)

St. Joseph and the Christ Child, oil on tin, with painted nicho punched frame, 12-5/8 x 7-1/2 x 1 in.; Virgin, oil on tin with nicho frame with reverse painted panels, foil highlights, 12-1/2 x 7-3/4 x 1-3/4 in.

Note: Consigner's note: "Retablos are devotional paintings depicting the patron saint of a family or a saint venerated in the village church. They were first painted on canvas and wood, then on hand-hammered copper plates. The paintings proliferated in the nineteenth century when inexpensive sheets of tin, imported to Mexico from Europe, became available to the artists. The popularity of retablos and ex votos peaked in the late 19th century with the introduction of tin, an inexpensive surface to paint on. The tradition traveled north to New Mexico, where artisans painted retablos on wooden panels. By the turn of the 20th century, the availability of inexpensive prints destroyed the market for painted retablos.

Open cabinet door reveals a hand-painted retablo of the Virgin Mary. The border of the door holds reverse painted glass which rarely survives its age in good condition. Powerful representations of a young woman as the Mother of Jesus Christ are widely evoked in literature, music and the visual arts throughout the Christian and Islamic worlds; the month of May is dedicated solely to her. The Virgin Mary, daughter of Saints Anne and Joachim, was born without the original sin as a pure vessel for the conception of the Son of God. The cult of the Virgin Mary started in the fourth century, but it was not until the thirteenth century that she became as popular as Jesus Christ. She is venerated as the Holy Mother, the rose without thorns, the Queen of Heaven."

Provenance: Private Collection, Colorado

corrosion, surface dirt, some losses, wear, holes, all commensurate with age; frames with wear, dented, one lacking garland on left side