Mexico
1910
Oil on tin
Height: 13 in / 33 cm; Width: 7 1/2 in / 19.1 cm
Provenance: Constance McCormick Fearing, Santa Barbara, CA
Exhibited: Santa Barbara Museum, 1960s
A Mexican painted ex-voto, or devotional retablo, showing a prisoner inside a small police jail while a uniformed officer stands at the door. Above the earthly scene, saints and holy figures appear in a celestial register, interceding over figures shown in flames or distress. The misspelled word “Polecia,” instead of “Policía,” reflects the vernacular character of the painting and its roots in popular devotional art.
Ex-votos were traditionally made to ask for divine assistance or to give thanks for a favor received. This example appears to relate to arrest, imprisonment, danger, or a plea for mercy on behalf of someone taken by the police. The painting joins the real world of confinement with the spiritual world of saints, showing how faith was used to confront moments of fear, injustice, or crisis.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Mexico
1910
Oil on tin
Height: 13 in / 33 cm; Width: 7 1/2 in / 19.1 cm
Provenance: Constance McCormick Fearing, Santa Barbara, CA
Exhibited: Santa Barbara Museum, 1960s
A Mexican painted ex-voto, or devotional retablo, showing a prisoner inside a small police jail while a uniformed officer stands at the door. Above the earthly scene, saints and holy figures appear in a celestial register, interceding over figures shown in flames or distress. The misspelled word “Polecia,” instead of “Policía,” reflects the vernacular character of the painting and its roots in popular devotional art.
Ex-votos were traditionally made to ask for divine assistance or to give thanks for a favor received. This example appears to relate to arrest, imprisonment, danger, or a plea for mercy on behalf of someone taken by the police. The painting joins the real world of confinement with the spiritual world of saints, showing how faith was used to confront moments of fear, injustice, or crisis.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
