Retablos
This exhibit was particularly interesting to experience and learn about because I had previously never even heard of a retablo, and went in without a clue as to what I was about to engage in. My first stop was to read the history of the retable; it was intriguing to learn that they were made for the purpose of prayer and worship to the Saint of their necessity. I have heard of people praying to temples, statues, and various religious deities, but the idea of painting a picture that depicts all the needs of a prayer was new to me. I also found it note worthy to discover that the artists would repaint, or add to the painting if more is needed for the desired prayer. The retablo illustrating Don Miguel Hidalgo was out of place to me at first because he isn’t considered a “saint” officially; yes he was a priest, but not the kind of priest I typically think of, being that he had two daughters out of wedlock. As I contemplated on the significance of his retablo I came up with several possible conclusions. My first speculation is that the artist who painted him must have made it to pray for him, and his safety, but then I realized that it was produced in 1988, so this couldn’t have been p
The last retablos I observed were the two different versions of the Nuestra Senora del Refugio de Pecadores, Our Lady Refuge of Sinners; images of Madonna, mother and child. I picked these because I thought it was interesting to compare the differences. In the first painting the mother and child appear fairly thin and are adorned with jewels on their crowns, while in the other they are illustrated as being heavier and their golden crowns are without out any jewels. The flowers surrounding their images are of different colors, but I really don’t know if this is meant to be symbolic, or if it was just a matter of the availability of paint choices between the two artists. I don’t think the big difference in the two pictures has much to do with symbolism, just a mere difference in opinions about the image of Our Lady Refuge of Sinners between the two artists. The next retablo that I was drawn to was that of San Miguel, or Saint Michael, the Archangel. I had a little insight on him already, knowing that the Christian version depicts him as having helped God fight Lucifer and his demons, banishing them to hell. I found the chains attached to the devil he is standing on to be an interesting function in the painting. I had to think for awhile about the possible meanings of it, and decided it could possibly be a representation of the chains keeping the devil out of heaven, or maybe like a prisoner wears chains to keep him from escaping from prison, they are Lucifer’s chains to keep him from escaping from hell. I like that he is standing on the devil to show that good is ove
Some topics in this essay:
Michael Archangel,
American Experience,
Refuge Sinners,
Virgin Guadalupe,
Sun Moon,
Miguel Hidalgo,
Father Hidalgo,
God According,
Bishop Mexico,
San Miguel’s,
lady guadalupe,
chains escaping,
refuge sinners,
lady refuge,
nuestra senora,
lady refuge sinners,
image lady,
mother child,
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Approximate Word count = 1072
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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