H69.464.2

Beautiful estofado kneeling female saint (showing stigmata left forehead) 17th century, 25"H x 13 1/2"W, in the round. Located on Mission Platform. From the History Information Station Object: Statue of St. Rita of Cascia of carved and painted wood made in Mexico between 1790 and 1830. This statue illustrates the use of the estofado technique (painting of draperies ) and the encarnacion technique (painting of flesh tones). History: Widowed at an early age, St. Rita (circa 1380-1447) entered a convent in Cascia where she lived a life of ascetic penance and meditation that won the admiration of all. Devoted to the Passion of Christ, she received a painful wound, as though made by a thorn, on her forehead. This stigmata as well as her nun's habit are portrayed by this statue. For the many miracles attributed to her intercession, she is venerated as la abogada de los imposibles, the helper in impossible situations. Museum Purchase A Saintly Subject In the Spanish colonies, the Catholic Church provided a formal structure for daily life, thought, and actions. Paintings (retablos) and statues (bultos) with religious themes played an important part in the transmission of the Church's traditions and teachings. Collectively known as santos, they were used to instill a reverence for the important Church personages and to encourage active observance of the holy days. Each holy personage has its own unique efficacy in one or more areas of life, and the "meaning" of each is universal in the Catholic world. The painters and carvers follow a specific iconography, making each saint or holy person easily identifiable by what they wear and carry. Small retablos are for use at home. Each image embodies the spiritual virtues of the personage portrayed, reminds the worshipper of those virtues, and is a focus for prayer. They were commissioned or purchased from peddlers who offered them door to door or sold them in stands. The devout place them on home altars and appeal to them for remedies to aliments and problems of every kind.