Santa (Maniquí)
Author
Osiris Delgado
(Puerto Rican, 1920-2017)
Date1958
Object number60.0167
Mediumoil on Masonite
Dimensions70 x 40 3/16 in. (177.8 x 102.1 cm)
frame: 72 7/8 x 43 1/8 x 2 in. (185.1 x 109.5 x 5.1 cm)
frame: 72 7/8 x 43 1/8 x 2 in. (185.1 x 109.5 x 5.1 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.
Collections
DescriptionThis painting represents the figure of a santo de vestir, or “clothed saint,” a central object in Catholic devotional practices in Puerto Rico since the colonial evangelization of the sixteenth century. The clothing for the santos de vestir—like that of mannequins—is not carved. Instead, the saint’s figure is covered with interchangeable vestments and adorned with jewelry and other accessories. In Puerto Rico, these santos decorated churches and domestic altars during special celebrations, such as Holy Week. By portraying the saint without its vestments, revealing its underlying wooden structure, Delgado relegated the object’s devotional role and emphasized, in its place, the artistic work produced in the centuries-old tradition of elaborating wooden saints in Puerto Rico.
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