Saint Michael (San Miguel)

c. 1840

Water-based paint on wood panel

35.2 × 28.6 cm (13.9 × 11.3 in)

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In the collection of Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia — check current display status with the museum.

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Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Painted in New Mexico, this small religious scene, or retablo, was meant for private devotion in a chapel or home. Retablos typically depict saints, angels, or the Virgin Mary. The New Mexican painters who specialized in these subjects were called santeros . To develop their iconographies, santeros looked to a variety of printed materials, including woodcuts, pamphlets, and illustrated Bibles. Here the archangel Saint Michael battles evil with a sword while he weighs the souls of the recently departed on a balance.

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