H69.231.8

Painting. Description: Mexican Colonial painting of a saint and Indian. St. Martin cutting his cloak in half. (?) A man on a white horse cutting a rose cloak, an Indian kneels touching the cloak. Two poplar-like trees in the background. Disposition: On exhibit From the Historh Information Station Object: Painting of St. Martin of Tours, oil on canvas, from 18th century Mexico. History: St. Martin was the founder of a community of religious hermits and became Bishop of Tours in 371. When a young man, he was a soldier in the Roman army and a catechumen--someone preparing for baptism--when, according to the legend illustrated by this painting, he met a beggar clad only in rags and suffering from the bitter cold. Martin took off his cloak and, cutting it in two with his sword, gave half of it to the beggar. That night Christ appeared to him in a vision, and Martin then determined to devote his life to religion. He is the patron saint of beggars. 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.